Hi no Nami: The Game of Life
by MewWinx96
Summary: This is the story of a girl who has to deal with a traumatic past, less than trustworthy friends, a family she has a strained relationship with, a stalker, and the fact that she's an eleven-year-old assassin. Oh, and something about Guardian Characters, too. (No lemon. Re-written first chapter Beta Read by nymphomaniac. Still undergoing re-writes. BOOK ONE.)
1. Prologue I

To whom it may concern:

If you are reading this, be aware that it's a violation of privacy. If I have found this anywhere outside of being a Word Document on my computer, I know exactly who to talk to.

The following is a "book" that I have written to deal (and possibly come to terms with) some horrible things that have happened to me. I am currently not intending to publish this. If you do continue to read this (and I really hope you don't) know that I have a really messed up sense of humor, not **everything** I say is meant to be taken seriously, and I may have stretched the truth here or there so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Well, If that was not enough to keep you from reading this, please enjoy reading some of the most dark and private information about me. I'll see you in court.

\- Marceline Alicia Tsukiyomi


	2. Part I: The Lock

"All kids hold an egg in their souls… The egg of our hearts… Our would-be selves, yet unseen…"

-Unknown


	3. The Second Heir

**And Finally here's the re-write.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Shugo Chara!_ or any of it's characters. All rights go to those who own them**

**Song for This Chapter: "Kill You" by Eminem**

* * *

**ERRAH! ERRAH! ERRAH! ERRAH!**

_Jesus Christ, it is bad enough that these people picked the most annoying sound on the face of the planet to be their security alarm, but did they really have to turn it up to be ear-shatteringly loud?_ I could hear the sound of muffled boots rushing past the room I was hiding in. The only good thing that came from setting the security alarm was the obvious indication of an approaching threat. It would be so much easier to simply escape and not look back, but before I can even think about escaping I need to carry out the task at hand.

What is the current task at hand you ask? Good question. I have to kill someone. Who? No fucking idea.

Seriously, I have no fucking idea who he is, I mean I know what he looks like but I don't know who he really is. They just don't bother telling me shit like that. I think it's supposed to be kind of like that thing they do when they kill inmates using an electric chair: they give six different people buttons and then make them all press it simultaneously so that way no one knows who killed the guy. They think if I don't know the details of the person I'd feel less guilty, but they're wrong. They're so totally wrong.

So basically I - Marceline Tsukiyomi - have to sit here in some random guy's office and wait for him to arrive so that I can kill him, but until then I get to listen to the most annoying sound on the planet.

Yup, that is my current situation. Or rather, where I decided to start writing this. Why? I'm sure you can come up with a better explanation that I can.

A few seconds later, I hear the guy being ushered into his office. I quickly dove into one of those big cupboard/closet things _Yes, my vocabulary is extremely expansive_. From the cupboard/closet thing I had a pretty good shot of the guy's desk. Although, the space was rater tight so shooting an arrow was bit difficult, however, I've shot arrows in tighter spaces before and was able to hit the target with about ninety-five percent accuracy. So, it shouldn't really be a problem.

The guy – a bald man with a red goatee – sat down at his desk with a confused expression on his face. Even though he was the manager – or something of the sort – he seemed unclear of what the alarm meant. As far as I knew, he was the owner of a factory or manager of some company. Once again, they doesn't tell me these things. Honestly any information I have on this guy – besides his appearance – is based on assumptions. I mean he has his own office for god-sake he's probably got some sort of authority.

He takes a few steps towards his desk chair and the arrow immediately collides with his left temple. That's it, nothing more. That man got a very non-climatic ending to his life. Sad, but isn't that what happens to all of us?

Well, the death might have been very non-climatic to him, but it was mortifying to me. I mean, I probably sound like a psychopath writing this, but at the time I was having trouble not breaking down into tears and crying like an idiot.

I stumbled out of the cupboard/closet thing and tried not to let any tears or nose dribble spill out. I checked the guys pulse to make sure he was actually dead and once I was sure, pulled the arrow out of his skull. The arrow itself didn't break on impact nor when I pulled it out of his skull, so I wiped the blood off of it and placed it back in my sheath. I then took a few pictures of the dead corpse on my phone then quickly made my escape through the window.

* * *

"Are you sure he's dead?" The director asked as he flipped through the photos on my phone.

"Yes." I said. Although I had a detached and unemotional demeanor when speaking with him, I was a mess internally. I had cried on the entire train ride back to Tokyo and even threw up. Twice. Thank god it was one in the morning and no one was really in the train station, or at least no one that would actually judge me.

"These aren't fake, right?" The statement came off as more of an accusation than a question.

"No, they are not." I said, then muttering under my breath: "How could it be? You can't a fake a picture on a phone that old."

"What was that?" He kept a serious demeanor, but I could still tell he was getting rather agitated.

"Nothing..." I said. He went back to flipping through the pictures.

"So, can you restate what happened?" He asked. "Just so we can make sure we have the 'official' version of events."

"I arrived in Nagano at nine PM and made my way to the factory. By nine-thirty I had infiltrated the factory through a blind spot in the security system and began to re-wire the security system as I had been instructed by your security technicians. By ten PM I had gotten it to go off and display an intruder on the other side of the factory. I quickly hid in the target's office and waited for him to enter. As soon as he entered the room, I executed him. I was on a train back to Tokyo by eleven PM."

His eyes stayed frozen on me for a second, as if analyzing every little cell in my body to make sure he wasn't missing any indication that I was lying. After a few minutes of deliberation, he seemed to accept this version of events and dismissed me from the room.

"Um, sir..." I said, still in that desensitized monotone.

"Yes." He said, obviously annoyed that I wasn't leaving.

"About what we discussed earlier," I said. "Is this enough to absolve me from the contract?"

The room was silent for a moment.

"I'll consider it." He said gruffly. "Now please leave my office."

"Yes sir." I said before quickly exiting the room.

* * *

I gazed out at the Tokyo skyline. Millions of lights were lit up, making it impossible to see the stars. The sky had a slightly orange glow to it, signaling that the sun would start rising soon. The streets were practically empty, except for a few cars on the road and a few people walking around the streets. Most likely they were out for an early morning run or walk. I'm certain it's still too early for any workplaces or businesses to be opening up.

I watched the entire city as it slowly woke up and I began the day with tear-filled eyes. Sometimes, I hate that being an assassin has this effect on me. Someone in my line of work shouldn't be breaking down and crying all the time. It makes me seem weak. Other times, I love feeling like this. It reminds me that I'm still human; that I'm not a cold-hearted, remorseless, serial killer.

Well, while the cold-hearted and remorseless part may not be true (in most cases), the serial killer part is. There is no denying that I've killed a lot of people. Nearly all of them are what the legal system may deem "excusable" as one could easily argue that I was under duress at the time. Which is true, I was under duress. The Easter Corporation very clearly laid it out for me when I joined that if I didn't do as they said, they'd kill my family. Now, while I did not give two shits whether my mother lived or died, I would never let them lay a hand on my siblings. They'd have to kill me first.

Now you're probably thinking: "Aw, how sweet it is you want to protect your younger siblings!" Well, that's not completely true. I am the youngest. They're both older than me. In fact, Ikuto is four years, five months, one week, and two days older than me while Utau is two years, six months, and one day older than me. If you do the math, that means I was born on May Tenth, Twenty-twenty seven, and given that the year was Twenty-thirty eight, that meant that I was eleven years old when all of this happened.

Yup. Take that all in, folks. I was a serial killer at eleven years old. A **serial killer**! If that doesn't scream "severe mental problems" then I don't know what does. You know, other than eating people… Or whatever it was that Ted Bundy did.

Like I said before, I was not **willingly **doing this. I did not enjoy it, I did not take pleasure in it. I just simply did what I had to do to survive.

I guess the oh-so-tragic story of Marceline Tsukiyomi began on April Fifth, twenty-thirty three. That was the day my father walked out on us. To be honest, I really don't blame him for it. If I could leave too I would, but I can't.

The reason why he walked out was because he didn't want to work for Easter. My mother was the soul heiress to the company. It was meant to be handed down through the Hoshina family bloodline, but they decided not to make my mother accept the position of Gozen, or head of Easter. The reason being that she had some mental issues and they didn't want a "crazy" person running the company. Since they wanted to keep it in the direct bloodline, they decided that whoever married my mother would end up being the nest head of Easter and then passing the company down through the decedents like normal.

However, I think when they decided this they just assumed that she would marry one of those high-class, country club, Harvard-educated, lawyer-types. They ended up being wrong. She married an aspiring violin prodigy from a small village in Northern Japan straight out of high school. Needless to say, they weren't pleased. However, they were extremely insistent on keeping the company in the bloodline. So much so that they pretty much gave my father no option other than to leave his family when the time came that my grandfather had passed on.

Now, to say my mother took this whole thing hard would be an understatement. I swear, when it first happened she was a day away from pulling a Juliet and faking her death to get him to come back home. Hell, I think she even attempted that once. Though, that's a story for another day.

Since my mother was so broken up about this, Easter used the situation to their advantage. Kazuomi Ichinomiya (Now, Hoshina), the company's director pretty much forced my mother to marry him and to sign Ikuto, Utau, and myself into slavery. Yes, slavery, that thing that's illegal in every nation in the world. How do they get away with it? I don't know. Probably has something to do with all the money that's in politics. Why didn't my mother pick up on the fact that we were being signed into slavery? Easy, she's always been a little unstable but at the particular moment when she was forced into all this crap, she was probably at the lowest point of her entire life. She was extremely emotionally distressed and Easter took advantage of that. I understand it, but it doesn't mean I'm not still extremely pissed at her.

As a result of my enslavement and a bunch of other things I did that pretty severely pissed off Easter, they forced me to become an assassin for them under the threat that they would kill both my family and me in that order. Now, I could care less if I died or my mother died but I would never **ever** let them lay a single hand on Ikuto or Utau, **ever.**

So, here I am. An eleven year old serial killer who doesn't have a choice in the matter and as a result of killing so many people is probably fucked up beyond all your wildest beliefs. Yeah, I know my life fucking sucks.

* * *

After falling asleep on the roof and waking up from an extremely terrifying nightmare, I decided it was probably a good idea to go home. One train and two bus rides later, I was in my hometown of Toride, Ibaraki. Not much I can say about it, really. I lived there all my life and I really couldn't be able to describe it with any other word than "home".

The busses don't run in the part of Toride in which I live, so I got off at the Seiyo Academy stop. Seiyo Academy is a private school in Toride and it's one of the best in the country. It has the best K through Six programs and the second best Seven through Twelve programs. My parents tried to get me in there, but I guess I had given off some red flags to the people who do the psychological exams and was denied entrance.

It was about eight o'clock in the morning. School for the kids in the Elementary Division started at eight thirty, so there were plenty of kids making their way to their classes as I made my way home. My house is about two miles from the school, but most of the walking is downhill, so it isn't that bad. I had my headphones on and was listening to "Stronger than I Was" by Eminem on my very, very old iPod. I wasn't really paying attention, so when I heard someone say "Hey!" I immediately pulled out my ear buds and whipped my head around to see who was talking to me.

"Hey kid," The voice came in the direction of the alleyway to my right. I looked over and saw two middle school aged kids picking on an Elementary School kid.

"Your allowance was in there yesterday, wasn't it?" One of the bullies asked.

"Wasn't it?" His friend repeated.

"But… But I…" The kid was so scared, he could barely even speak.

Okay. I had two choices here. I could either rush to this kid's aid, which seemed like a pain in the ass or I could do nothing and let nature take its course. As much as I wanted to, for some reason I just couldn't walk away. Granted, I wasn't about to jump into the situation, but I just couldn't walk away. Feeling conflicted, I just decided to appease both sides of me and just call the police and have them handle it. Indirectly Getting Involved: for when you want to walk away but really just can't.

I had just dialed one-one when I heard someone say "Hey! I can't pass!" I looked over and saw a girl with pink hair and gold eyes standing on the other side of the alleyway. She was wearing the standard Seiyo Elementary uniform only modified to look all gothic punk. She wore leg warmers the same red plaid color as her skirt, her white shirt wasn't tucked into her skirt and had the last two buttons at the top of her shirt were unbuttoned and her tie was tied messily. She wore a black belt around her waist and a red cloth around the left arm of her blazer. Her hair was pinned up in a small side ponytail.

My first thought when I saw her: _Oh my god that idiot is going to get her ass handed to her._ I mean, **I **could take them down easy if I was willing to put in the effort but then again, I'm a trained assassin. This girl is what, nine, ten years old? Two middle school kids would be able to take her down in less than a fraction of a second, hands down. I pressed the zero on my phone, although now I thought we were going to need more than just the police here.

"Huh?" One of the bullies said in confusion. "Who is this girl…?"

"W-Wait a second, that's…." The other bully said fearfully. "Amu Hinamori from Seiyo Elementary!"

With that remark, I had to pull my phone away from my ear. Am I hearing this correctly? Two **middle school aged boys** are afraid of an **elementary school aged girl **who they probably have thirty centimeters and forty kilograms on.

_Dafaq?_ _Are they serious? They're seriously intimidated by **her**. What could that girl have done to make her so terrifying? Trap a bunch of women in a well and tried to make a suit out of their skins?_ Okay, maybe not that, but seriously what did they have to be afraid of?

Apparently, in their minds they had a lot to be afraid of. According to them, this girl was rumored to have single-handedly beaten another school's soccer team and had all the teachers at her old school brainwashed so that way they would give her good grades and let her do whatever she wanted. Wow. I'm just amazed that kids these days have the time and creativity to come up with such well thought out rumors. I mean, come on! Anyone with a brain would just have to hear that once and realize it wasn't true! Oh, and the bullies weren't the only ones who bought into this crap. The kid they were picking on began fanboying over Amu the moment he realized who she was.

Amu, meanwhile, stood there with the same cold and unemotional expression on her face.

"…So what?" She said. "Where did you hear those rumors…?"

The bullies, however, were too intimidated by her mere presence and ran off with cries of "We're sorry!" and "We'll never do it again!" Once they were gone, the kid they were trying to mug ran up to Amu with a piece of paper.

"Thank you so much!" He said. "Can I have your autograph?" Amu turned to the kid with the same cold expression she had on her face when she was dealing with the bullies.

"…Are you an idiot?" She asked. "It was just an annoyance as I was passing… Be careful from now on." And with that, she turned and walked away.

Her fanboy continued to fanboy over her as she walked out of the alleyway and up the street to the school. She passed by me as she walked out. I don't think she saw me, though because I was kind of standing at the corner of the entrance to the alleyway and she was walking in the opposite direction. For a second I got this strange feeling as she passed by me. I don't know why, but something about her seemed… Different to me? I'm not sure if that's the right way to put it. I mean, she seemed like an average kid to me if you took away all of the gothic punk crap that she adorned her uniform with, but… I don't know… Something about her just seemed…

"Hello? Ma'am, are you still there? Ma'am? Ma'am?" Oh yeah, that's right. I was on the phone with the police.

"Oh, uh, sorry." I said. "There was something wrong, but your ser-"

"Ma'am, are you okay?" The woman on the other end said, apparently not hearing me. "Are you being attacked?"

"No, I just-" I started but the woman cut me off.

"Did you just say that you're being raped?"

"What? No!" Damn, this phone sucks.

"Don't worry, we'll send police and ambulances there right away." The woman said. "Just please stay on the line."

"No, no." I said. "That's not necessary. I'm fine."

"Ma'am, everything is going to be just fine." The woman said. "Police are on their way, just stay calm and stay on the line until they get there."

"But I'm no-" And then I was cut off by the sounds of sirens.

I hate my life.

* * *

You wanna know what the police hate? Getting called out for nothing! They made that very clear to me when I told them that it was a misunderstanding. Something tells me that I'm not going to be in the Toride Police Department's favor for a while, but then again when am I ever in their favor?

After that little incident, I went home. My house is kind of in, well, the bad part of town. Technically, it wasn't so bad six or seven years ago, but then the crack epidemic hit and… Yeah… Things have kind of gone to shit… I mean, a lot of the houses on my street used to have families with kids living in them, now half of them have been foreclosed upon and the few that aren't are filled with forty-something year old strung out crack heads living in them. I'm pretty sure that Ikuto and I are the only kids who live on this street.

I walk through the overgrown grass on the front lawn and into the house. Our house is pretty big. Hell, if we were rich I guess it could technically be called a mansion. Our grandfather bought it for our mother on her eighteenth birthday. Initially my parents wanted nothing to do with the house, but after my mother became pregnant with Utau they realized that a tiny two bedroom apartment wouldn't be big enough for the four of them and moved in here.

I walked into the house and headed right into the kitchen. I hadn't eaten since the day before, so I was starting to feel extremely hungry. I opened the fridge to see what we had to eat and instead of rows of food found… Absolutely nothing.

"What the…" I muttered in disbelief.

_Okay, what the fuck happened? _I thought. _How the hell can we be out of food already? Didn't we go shopping the other day? What could have caused all of the food to disappear in one night?_

All of my questions were answered by a certain blonde-haired, violet-eyed woman stumbling into the room.

"Hey Marci-chan!" She said in an overly calm voice. "How's it goin'?"

_Oh crap, she's higher than fucking Mars_.

"Mother," I said. "Where'd all the food go?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She laughed. "I ate it all, silly."

"You ate it **all**?" I asked. She nodded in response. "Even the raw eggs and butter?"

"Yup." She said while smiling.

"What the fuck?" I exclaimed.

"Language!" My mother quickly snapped.

"Why the hell did you eat all the food?" I asked completely baffled.

"I was hungry." My mother simply said. "And would you please stop cursing."

"What in the hell would make you hungry enough to eat-" Then I remembered that often times when people were high they would eat food indiscriminately. "Shit. Well, that's great. Now I have to go out and use the little money we have left on groceries. Thanks, Mother!"

"You're welcome, but I told you to stop cursing." She said.

I quickly ran upstairs to my room and went to retrieve the money from its secret hiding spot. However, when I got there all I found were a five-hundred yen piece and for some reason a Canadian penny. For a second I was confused, but then I realized what happened. I bounded back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Mother?" I said very intimidatingly.

"Y-yes, Marci-chan." She was already feeling guilty. She was pretending to look for something in the cabinet where we keep the pots and pans. (Which are useless to us because we don't have an oven.)

"Did you spend the money on Valium again?" I asked her straight out as I didn't want to beat around the bush.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, don't give me that crap." I said. "You found the money and spent it on Valium, didn't you?"

At that point, she just burst out crying and ran upstairs to her room. I just sighed and sat down at the kitchen table.

_Oh what the fuck am I going to do? We're completely out of money and we have no food._

_It could be worse._

_Oh yeah? How?_

_It could have been Heroin that mother bought._

I sighed in agreement with the voice.

* * *

Before we continue, I find it pertinent to note that I later developed the ability to take other people's memories and view them as if they were my own. I'll explain how exactly this happened eventually, just know that as this was taking place, I did not yet have this ability.

* * *

During lunch break in the Fourth Grade Star Classroom at Seiyo Elementary, a group of girls had gathered together in the corner of the room and were giggling and gossiping to themselves. (Okay, I shouldn't say "to themselves" because they were doing it so loudly that everyone in the room could hear, but whatever.) The subject of most of their gossip was their classmate, Amu Hinamori.

"Hey, did you see?" One girl asked. "She stopped some bullies from taking a younger student's money!"

"Hinamori-san really is great, isn't she?" Another girl said admiringly.

"They say there's something different about her personality."

"You just can't get close to her."

"The way she wears her uniform also makes her cool."

"Her mother writes for a famous newspaper and her father is a very famous cameraman!"

"Cool! Wonderful! There's nothing cooler!"

"Hey! Listen, listen! Her boyfriend is an ultra-celebrity from the year above us! He's an idol and he's from France!"

"Hinamori-san said 'Bonjour'!"

"And he said he loved her!"

"How mature!"

Amu, who could hear all of this from her desk across the room from the girls, simply sighed and turned to look out the window.

_They're making up rumors again._ Amu thought. _Actually, that's not who I am at all…_

* * *

**"ON YOUR BUTTS! YOUR GUARDIAN SPIRT IS HERE!"**

Amu jumped at the loud, booming voice. She turned her attention to the television, revealing a large, older woman on the screen. It was Noboko Saeki, a famous "psychic" who had acquired a show on Sakura TV, which wasn't hard because they'll put anything on for ratings. Other than being a "psychic", she was also well known for having such a loud voice that you could have the TV on mute and you could still hear her talking. Like me, Amu wasn't quite convinced of Saeki's "psychic abilities".

"Oh, it's just that phony old hag again." Amu muttered, turning back to the food in front of her.

"Don't say that, Amu." Amu's mother, Midori Hinamori said from across the dinner table. "Noboko Saeki-sensei is a gifted fortune teller; Amu-chan. Mama's magazine has done three different special articles on her." Just so you know, Midori isn't a famous reporter like everyone says. She's an editor for _Housewives Monthly_.

"Look at Papa's masterpiece instead!" Amu's father, Tsumugu Hinamori exclaimed. "It's a close up of Amu-chan doing exercises!" In his case, the rumors were kind of true. He was kind of a famous cameraman, but I don't think he's as well-known as Amu's classmates probably think.

"Papa, I can't see Saeki-sensei!" Midori said.

"Look, look Amu!" Tsumugu said.

_A writer and a cameraman… _Amu thought.

Just then, a cry of fear came from the person in the seat next to Amu.

"Skawee!" Ami cried. "Skawee Monster!" Ami then jumped out of her high chair and into her older sister's arms.

"It's not 'skawee', its 'scary', Ami-chan." Midori corrected.

"Beat up that monster, big sister!" Ami cried.

"That's a human, Ami." Amu said, attempting to comfort her little sister.

"A monster?" Noboko said from the TV. "No, a fortune teller is not a scary thing. I will always be behind you, watching you. I am a strong ally that will save you."

"…She really is an idiot." Amu said.

"People who say stupid things will die." Noboko said, almost as if she heard what Amu had said. "Should I congratulate you? I am talking to you."

That was enough for Amu. She quickly put her sister on the ground and got up from the table.

"Huh?" Midori said when she noticed Amu getting up from the table. "Amu-chan? Are you okay?"

Amu froze for a second but then turned to her family in her normal "cool and spicy" manor.

"Fortune telling is just something unlucky people cling to." Amu said. "I will **never **believe in it. Thank you for the meal." And then she walked off.

* * *

As soon as Amu walked into her room, she locked the door and collapsed on her bed.

"AAH!" She screamed. "What is this awful sound?" She shook her head back and forth with her hands covering her ears as she began screaming about random nonsense. "What? It stopped before, too! Eh? What is this? The occult? Impossible... This is awful; I can't take a bath like this!" Yeah, have fun deciphering that.

After she sat on her bed screaming for a good minute and a half (I'm surprised her parents didn't get concerned and come up to check on her.) Amu face planted into her pillows and stretched out.

"Ah," She groaned. "Acting like that all day made me tired..."

_That personality is a lie. _Amu thought. _Yes... I am... I am the only one who knows my real personality. I transferred schools halfway through the year... They mistook my poor speaking skills as being cool. They thought I was being rebellious by not saying anything. So, they called me "cool"... It didn't help that my mom bought me all these Gothic-style clothes. _

Amu rolled over and sat up on her bed with a sad expression on her face.

_Just once I'd like to wear pink instead of black. I want to be a cuter, more obedient girl. But, that's not my personality now. _

_"I will always be behind you,"_ Amu had remembered that fortune teller on the TV saying. _"Watching you."_

Amu quickly checked behind her, taking the fortune teller's words literally. When she saw no one there, she turned back around.

"No way..." She said. "My real self?"

_My real self, the real me... ...Maybe there is a real me. I should apologize for being stupid._

She then sat on the edge of her bed, clasped her hands together and shut her eyes.

_Oh, Great Fortune Teller, please give me courage. I wish to be given a new life._

* * *

Yes, stealing was my only option. I'm going to say that now before someone snaps at me for doing this. I couldn't hunt because of land surveyors (and the fact that I had suspected that I was being stalked), I couldn't sell any of my mom's jewelry 'cause she woke up and caught me trying to break into her dresser (I guess she didn't take as much Valium as I thought.), and my Mac Book, the Xbox One and the PlayStation Four are all hot (A.K.A. I bought them from people who stole them and if I tried to resell them, I'd probably get caught.). So, yes, stealing from others was my only option.

At first, I was planning on pickpocket people until I came up with enough to pay for groceries, but that didn't work out exactly as I expected... Let's just say I had my second run in with the law that day and the law was not happy. So, when that didn't work out, I went straight to my next option, which was stealing from Seiyo Academy Elementary School.

Yes, I am serious. That was my next option. You see, the thing is I happened to know that they had this really valuable necklace and I knew exactly where they stashed it. The only thing that had kept me from taking it before was that I wasn't desperate enough to risk facing the repercussions of getting caught. Now, however...

Now I was standing in front of the entrance to a greenhouse in the back of the school wearing a black hoodie and a _Call of Duty: Ghosts_ bandanna over the lower half of my face, hoping that this would be enough to disguise myself from any security cameras that may be strewn about the place. I wasn't sure, though. I've been told in the past that my large, blue eyes were my most identifying feature.

I took a deep breath and got down on my knees in front of the door. I pulled a bobby pin out of my back pocket and broke it in half. I took the slightly bent piece, stuck it in the top of the key-way and folded it to the side. Then, I took the straight piece and stuck it in the bottom of the key way horizontally and pushed it to the right. I then put the slightly bent part of the bobby pin back into the lock and began pushing the pins up, one by one, until they were all in the unlocked position. I used the bobby pins to turn the key-way and then the door came open.

...Remember kids; only use that if you absolutely have to.

I slowly walked into the greenhouse. I wasn't sure whether or not the security system would go off – it'd be incredibly stupid to have a super rare and valuable necklace stored away and not have any sort of security system – or exactly what would trigger it. After a few seconds, I realized that I had picked the lock and that possibly could have disabled any security system that they had. I relaxed a little, but still remained cautious.

I came to another locked door in the back. This one led to a small record-keeping room that they kept the necklace in. I preformed the same steps on this door that I did on the first until it opened for me. As I stood in the doorway to the small room, I had thought that what I was doing was completely wrong. I was able to smother that thought pretty quickly.

I walked all the way to the other side of the room. Directly across from the door, there was a "hidden" panel. The panel had the school's symbol (a star and a crescent moon) on it, so it was easy to identify. If you pushed the panel up, it revealed the small storage space where they kept the necklace.

At this point, I thought I was in the clear. I had pushed the panel up and was about to open the egg-shaped case the necklace was in when I literately hit a snag, or rather glass. Yup. That's right. I didn't notice it when I was lifting the panel up, but the entire storage space was encased in glass. Oh fuck.

_How did they get it in there if it's encased in glass?_ Really? That's the first thing you wonder? How about the fact that you're completely unprepared for this? I mean, you didn't bring any glass cutting tools with you! (Not that you could afford them anyways.) You should have been expecting this! God, you're such a dumb ass!

Oh, wait. This is me we're talking about here. God, I'm such a dumb ass!

Well, for what it's worth I did pay dearly for my mistake. I spent twenty-minutes trying to figure out how in the hell I could possibly get the necklace out of that case before I came to the obvious answer.

"Alright." I said to myself. "No time for subtlety. I'm gonna have to break the glass."

How I was going to do that, though, I wasn't exactly sure. I doubted that even with brass knuckles, I'd be able to punch through that glass. It seemed too thick. I would need something heavy and I couldn't seem to find anything that looked heavy enough. The record books all seemed to lightweight and the table and chairs that were out in the middle of the greenhouse were made out of a thin plastic, so they weren't an option. I sat down on the ground, ran my fingers of my hair, and took a deep breath.

_Maybe this is a sign I should give up_. I thought. _I mean, I know this is wrong. I shouldn't be doing it. I should just go home and wait for slow death via starvation to come. _

I sighed.

"Yeah." I said to the voice in my head. "You're probably right. There's no way that I'm getting that glass open. I should just accept that I'm going to die of starvation. ...Or be forced to go dumpster diving in a Taco Bell dumpster again, which is incredibly demeaning." Because self-degradation is more important to prevent than starvation. I'm sorry, I just hate the stupid decisions I've made from time to time.

I stood up and was about to shut the panel and walk out when something caught my attention. It was an hour glass on one of the book shelves. I hadn't noticed it before, but it looked quite large and heavy.

_Maybe heavy enough to break through the glass._

_Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. You're not seriously considering this, are you?_

_Yeah, why not? I mean, it's why we came here in the first place, right?_

_It's wrong. You know it's wrong. Don't do it._

_Really, you don't think I should take every measure possible to make sure I don't starve to death tonight?_

_No. I mean, yes. I mean... What answer says that I don't want to die of starvation?_

_Okay, so don't you think that it'd be okay to take the necklace if it meant not dying in one of the worst ways possible?_

_Marceline, it takes **days** for someone to starve to death. I know that you know this. It's too soon to use starvation as justification for a crime like this. You can't even use the possibility of Ikuto starving as justification because you know he can just go to school and get lunch **for free**. Just, please, for the love of god, don't do this._

_Oh, come on. You've come this far. Why not finish what you started? I mean, it'd be a waste to just have broken in here and walk out empty handed. Come on, just do it. You know you want to..._

And it's at this point that I gave in to temptation. Yes, although I had every reason in the world to stop doing what I was doing and walk away, I chose to do the wrong thing and continue to try and steal the necklace. Why? Because I'm an idiot. That's why.

I took my fingers out of my mouth – I hadn't realized I had been biting my nails – and took the hourglass of the shelf. I was right about how heavy it was. Probably even a little too right. I could barely lift the thing above shoulder height, which isn't that high considering the fact that I'm a hundred forty-nine centimeters (four feet eleven inches) tall.

I slammed the hourglass into the sheet of glass a few times and a crack appeared in it. A few more times and it finally broke open, causing a bunch of tiny pieces of glass to fall to the floor and some of them to go through the gloves I was wearing and cut my hand. I threw the hourglass on the floor, causing it to break open and sand to spill everywhere.

"Shit." I muttered in frustration and pain as I cradled my gloved hand.

_See what this gets you?_

"Shut up." I said to the voice.

I reached into the cabinet and took the egg-shaped case out. I opened it to reveal a lock shaped necklace with a four-leaf clover made out of crystals on it. I quickly grabbed it, dropped the case on the floor, carefully walked around the puddle of sand on the floor, shut and locked both doors, and then bolted out of there.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, which allowed soft rays of early October sunshine to fill Amu's bedroom as she awoke. She looked around her room in her first few minutes of wakefulness, observing her surroundings. As far as she could tell, nothing had changed.

"Uhn..." She said groggily as she came to her senses. "I'm sure she was here, but..."

Amu slowly began to sit up in her bed. As she did so, she felt something brush up against her leg. Unsure what it was, Amu pulled back the covers on the bed to reveal three eggs; one pink with a hearts pattern, one blue with a spades pattern, and one green with a clovers pattern.

And here is the point where you call bullshit and slam the book or tablet you're reading this on down hard on the coffee table and go off to tell your friends what a psycho I am. Look, I swear to god I'm not making this up. This actually happened and if you don't believe me, you can stop reading right now and never pick up this book again because it only gets stranger from here.

Now, seeing as Amu is a normal, functional human being, she understandably freaked out when she saw the eggs.

"EGGS!" She practically almost screamed at the top of her lungs. She then sat up on her knees, pulled the covers completely back and visually inspected the eggs. "Wha... What is this? I laid...? Impossible..."

After staring at them in silence for about a minute, Amu slowly tapped one of the eggs with her finger. The outer shell felt quite warm, like there was a baby chick in there or something. Surprised by this, Amu picked up the egg (the pink one with the heart pattern) and held it gently as she examined it closer.

"Eh..." She said. "Did I really lay this...? Is that even possible...?"

Amu's little sentimental moment with her egg was quickly cut short when the door to her bedroom suddenly flew open.

"Sis," Ami said as she loudly burst into her older sister's bedroom, causing Amu to quickly pull the covers over her eggs. "It's breakfast time."

* * *

Amu sat at the table, staring at her breakfast. Her mother had made eggs that morning (Oh, the irony.) so it's understandable as to why she was doing so, seeing as, you know, she just laid **fucking eggs**. Her mother, however, had no way of knowing this and was actually confused as to why her daughter was just sitting at the table staring at her breakfast.

"Amu-chan," Her mother said, concerned. "Why are you staring at your eggs?"

Amu wasn't sure what to say. Obviously, it wasn't normal for a human to lay eggs. If it was, you'd hear about it happening all the time. Then again, this may be her one and only opportunity to actually ask for help with this.

"Hey..." Amu said slowly. "Mom..."

Her mother looked up from the coffee for a second to look at her daughter, but her attention quickly turned to her husband who practically came skipping down the stairs with a bright smile on his face.

"N-never mind..." Amu eventually said when her mother tuned her attention back to her.

* * *

You wanna know what one of the most painful things you can do to yourself is? Pulling glass out of a wound yourself. Apparently when I broke that glass case and cut my hand open, glass had gotten into the wound and not a big shard that'd be easy to pull out. No, just tiny, itty bitty shards that gets stuck under the skin and is such a pain in the ass to get out. I hate this. It hurts like a bitch. I'd rather watch _Keeping up with the Kardashians_ than do this again.

I'd go to the hospital, get my hand numbed, and let doctors take care of this for me, but I don't have the cash to pay for it at the moment and I don't think I'll be able to run out of there without paying since they ask you for your billing information beforehand, so this is my only option.

I was leaning over my bathroom sink with a sterilized pair of tweezers, slowly pulling out tiny slivers of broken glass out of my hand and being extremely careful not to break them as I pulled them out. That'd only make matters worse. Once the glass was out, I threw the tiny shard into a cup I got from the kitchen.

Eventually, I was pretty sure that I had gotten all the glass pieces out and put anti-bacterial cream on the wound before bandaging it. I wasn't sure how to safely dispose of the glass shards, so I looked it up online. The only result I got that didn't tell me to take them to a recycling center (Because I don't think they'll accept bloody glass shards.) said to spill them on the floor vacuum it up, and then go over the area with a wet paper towel. So I did exactly that. Ah, the internet. Giving us the most reliable information since nineteen-ninety-five.

After I spilled the glass on the floor and went downstairs and got the vacuum out from one of the closets. I had just carried it all the way to the top of the stairs when I saw Ikuto come out from his room.

"Ah!" I exclaimed. "Be careful! There's glass!"

"What?" He asked. I guess I said that too fast.

"I said: 'Be careful! There's glass!'"

"Where?" He asked.

"On the floor." I said.

"I meant where on the floor so I don't step on it." He said.

"Uh..."

_Crap._ I thought. _I probably should've taken note of that before I got the vacuum._

"J-just be careful where you step." I said.

"You don't know." He said.

"They were stuck in my hand before." I said while holding up my bandaged hand. "So some of them might have my blood on them. That might make them easier to see." That only caused a mix of concern and confusion to flash across his face.

"If it was in your hand," He said. "Why is it on the floor?"

"Because wikiHow told me that the safest way to dispose of glass was to throw it on the floor and vacuum it up." I said like it was nothing.

"You know it's perfectly safe to throw broken glass in the trash, right?" He said. I face-palmed.

"Yes," I said. "Of course I did. That's why I looked it up on freakin' wikiHow."

_God I'm such a fucking idiot. I should have fucking known that in the first place. God, fuck me._

"You don't have to be so testy about it." He said.

"Bite me." I said. Ikuto just sighed and slowly began to walk across the floor, paying attention to where he stepped as he did so. _As if that would keep a glass shard from getting stuck in his foot._

"How'd you get glass stuck in your hand in the first place?" He asked as he slowly made his way over to me. That question made me freeze. Internally, I began to panic. Ikuto would not be happy if he found out I had stolen something. In the past when I've gotten caught stealing, it didn't go so well. I remember we got into a pretty bad fight once after I was caught stealing iPads at the Apple Store...

So, if I told him what actually happened, I'd be in trouble. Now, you'd think lying would be my only natural response. Wrong. Ikuto **always** knows when I'm lying. **Always**. It's like some weird superpower that he has. No matter what I say or do to make it seem like I'm telling the truth - even getting other people to back me up - he always sees right through my lies. How does he do that shit?

So, what did I choose to do in that moment? Easy. I just stood there like an idiot, having an internal anxiety attack. Yes, I know I probably should have said something to make myself seem less suspicious, but really, what could I say? The truth would start a fight and lying would only get me caught and start a fight. Shit, there's no winning here is there?

"Marceline." He said after having successfully navigated the section of floor without getting glass stuck in his foot. He was now standing two steps in front of me on the stairs.

"Yeah." I said.

"Did you hear what I said?" He asked.

"Mm-hm." I said.

"Then what happened to your hand?" He asked.

_Damn, why do you have to push it?_

I stared up at him. Panicky sapphire eyes connecting with a pair of inquisitive midnight blue ones. Even if he wasn't standing two steps above me, there'd still be a considerable height difference between us seeing as I'm thirty-one centimeters (about a foot) shorter than him. Saying I was a little intimidated would be an understatement.

_I guess I have no other choice._

I climbed the last two steps to the top of the stairs, put the vacuum down, and then immediately bolted for my bedroom door. Ikuto had just gotten a chance to react to what was happening when I slammed and locked the door.

I had collapsed on the floor and started hyperventilating. A few seconds later I heard (strangely calm) knocking on the door.

"Marceline, open the door." He said, once again strangely calm.

"No." I replied with a very shaky voice. "I feel safer with the door closed. You can talk to me through it." It wasn't that I was afraid he would hurt me. He would never do that. It was more to do with the fact that I'm a fucking coward who can't handle the fallout when I do something wrong. Seriously, other than a few occasions when I did something extremely bad or even unforgivable, he didn't react that badly. We fought, but it never got worse than the two of us shouting at each other through the door.

"Fine." He said. "What happened?"

"Promise you won't get angry?" I asked nervously.

"It's bad, isn't it?" He said, knowing I only ask that when I know I really did something I shouldn't have.

"Just promise." I said.

"I won't get mad." He said.

"Okay..." I said, and then paused for a minute to steady my breathing and try to swallow the lump in my throat. "I kind of stole something really valuable from somewhere."

"So, what else is new?" I knew he wouldn't object to the actual stealing. He's seen me do it before and knew that I only did it to make sure we had enough cash for an emergency. However, it was what I stole and where I stole it from that I was sure would upset him.

"Um..." I said. "The thing is... I kind of didn't steal it from a store or anything..."

"What do mean?" He asked.

"Uh..." I said. "You remember the school you went to up until I entered pre-school? The one Tadase goes to and his uncle works at?"

"Yeah..." He said slowly.

"I kind of stole something from there..." I said.

"Marceline, what did you steal?" He asked.

_Oh, this isn't gonna be good. _

"Remember that necklace Tsukasa showed us that one time..." I said kind of scared.

"You didn't." He said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I kind of did." I said, squeezing my eyes shut and preparing myself for the worst case scenario. I thought that he would yell through the door, but he didn't. Instead, I just heard him take a deep breath.

"Why did you feel the need to do that?" He asked as he let the breath out.

"Mom spent all the emergency cash." I said.

"What?" He said in outrage. "Again? I thought you said you found a good hiding spot this time."

"I thought I did, too." I said, then muttered under my breath: "Damn stupid bitch. Why does she have to pull this shit?"

"Well," Ikuto said. "At least it's not an emergency. We still have plenty of food, right?"

"That's another thing." I said. "She kind of also ate all of the food. And when I say all of the food, I mean **all** of the food."

"You serious?" He questioned.

"I swear to god, I'm serious." I said. "She literally ate all of the food. Even the butter and raw eggs."

"Holy crap." He said.

"I know, right?" I said. "Hey, wait a second, how did you not notice we were out of food?"

"I ate at school." He simply said. I highly doubted that anything he got at school would be substantial enough to last him nearly a whole twenty-four hours, but I accepted this response.

"Okay." I said, unsure of how else to respond.

"Look," Ikuto said. "Marceline, could you just let me in? I promise I won't get upset."

"You really promise?" I asked, unsure as I got up off the floor and turned to face the door.

"Marceline, I swear on Utau's life..." I opened the door before he could finish that sentence.

"Alright," I said. "No need to go that far. Come in, come in."

I stepped out of the way so he could get into my room.

"Where is it?" He asked.

"In the bathroom next to the sink." I said. "There might be some blood on it. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. My hand..."

He walked into the bathroom, found the necklace, and held it up to the light. I watched the crystals shimmer tiny beams of light onto his face until he cut them off by shoving the necklace into his pants pocket. While slowly dawned on me what was going on, he calmly walked right out the door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" I said as I rushed to the door. He stopped at the stairs and turned to look at me. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I'm returning it." He said.

"What the hell?" I said. "That's supposed to be our grocery money! You can't just give that back!"

"Don't give me that crap." He said. "You know very well that you crossed several lines you shouldn't have. Now let me fix what you did while it still can be fixed." And with that, he began going down stairs.

"Ikuto!" I shouted after him, hoping that that alone would make him stop. He didn't so I shouted his name again. He was pretty much out the door by the time I figured out that I should probably try to actively pursue him.

I went back into my room, got my hoodie off the bed, and began to run after him. The thing is, though, I forgot about one very important thing.

"Ikuto!" I shouted after him. "Iku- **AH! GOD DAMN IT!**" I then fell on my ass and cradled my bleeding foot.

* * *

Amu walked through the gates of the giant, castle-like building she called her school looking kind of a bit worried. Because she was too scared to ask her mother about the eggs, she was forced to bring them to school with her. She was keeping them in her bag, wrapped between two layers of napkins for protection. (_Like two thin paper napkins will keep three eggs safe from a two-ton textbook.)_

_That fortune teller..._ Amu thought as she walked. _I told her I wanted a new life but... But... To give birth to... I'll have to keep them safe to learn anything._

All of a sudden (literally within a split second) a huge group of students, particularly the female ones, gathered around the gates. Amu heard someone exclaim "Look, look over there!" and someone else exclaim "Ah, it's the prince!" Needless to say, all of this commotion caught Amu's attention and she turned to look at exactly who was walking through those gates.

She watched him walk through the gates and down the path behind it. He was, in her opinion, quite a beautiful boy. He was about the same height as her and had blonde hair and ruby-colored eyes. He wore the standard boy's uniform; white shirt, black coat, blue tie, blue-plaid shorts and white knee-socks. The only difference was that he wore a blue-plaid cape that seemed to flutter with every step he took. There was no argument that Amu was immediately taken with him.

Next to him was someone who almost went unnoticed by Amu. She was a girl with long purple hair tied up in a pony-tail with a red hair ribbon. Her copper colored eyes shimmered softly under the early October sun. She wore the normal girl's uniform, but like Tadase, she wore a red-plaid cape over it.

"It's the Seiyo Elementary School Guardians!" Someone exclaimed. Then, Amu was suddenly joined by two girls in her class she knew as Manami and Wakana. If she wasn't mistaken, these two girls were part of that group that was spreading rumors about her.

"He works as the King's Chair Guardian." Manami fangirled.

"He looks so cool today, too." Wakana said, also fan-girling.

"The Prince is such a great guy." Minami said.

"He's so nice." Wakana said. "He's so smart. He can do anything." So he could bring down ISIS single-handedly if he wanted to? What? She said he could do anything.

"Hey," Manami turned to Amu and said. "Don't you think so, too, Hinamori-san."

"Huh?" Amu said, surprised by the sudden question. "Uh, me?" Amu then quickly shook off her surprise and put on that cool character that everyone knew her as. "No... Not in particular? Why should I like some stuffy Guardian?"

"Whoa." Manami said. "Hinamori-san is really mature."

"Cool and spicy!" Wakana exclaimed.

After talking to Amu for a few seconds, Manami and Wakana quickly discovered that she didn't know what a Guardian was and began to explain it to her.

"The Guardians were formed for the benefit of the students." Manami said. "They're sort of like a student council."

"There are four official positions:" Wakana said. "King's Chair, Queen's Chair, Jack's Chair and Ace's Chair. Every year four people are selected."

"There are rumors that when the school makes a harsh regulation," Manami said. "They protect the students. They really are Guardians."

"The Guardians have made it okay to be late and leave early." Wakana said.

"Talking to a Guardian is the same as talking to a teacher." Manami said.

"After school, they have a tea party in the 'Royal Garden'." Wakana said.

"Yes, yes!" Manami exclaimed with her eyes sparkling. "Only a Guardian can wear that Royal Cape!"

"It's so royal!" Wakana exclaimed, her eyes also sparkling.

"Just being around them makes you feel special!" Manami fangirled.

"I want to wear that cape at least once!" Wakana fangirled.

Guys, you know they're not Jesus, right? They're just normal people like you and me. Alright, maybe not me. I'm pretty fucked up. But they're just normal people like you, so stop acting like they're the messiah.

Meanwhile, Amu listened to them fangirl with a look of exasperation.

_I would never wear that cape. _Really, Amu? That's the thing you nitpick at? Oh, well. Unfortunately for her, Manami doesn't have the ability to read people's minds and say something to the opposite of what Amu was thinking.

"That cape would look really good on you, Hinamori-san." Manami said.

"Huh?" Amu said in confusion.

"Everyone's saying that the next Queen's Chair will be you!" Wakana said.

_Another rumor?_ At least this one isn't as far-fetched as the other ones. I mean, it does have its flaws, such as I'm pretty sure Manami, Wakana, and many of the other students interpreted how the Guardians are selected wrong. Yes, they announce who the Guardians are at the beginning of every school year, but they don't change unless a position needs to be filled. Like if a member graduates, transfers to another school, or (rarely) a member decides to not be in the group anymore. The current Queen's Chair would have to give up her position in order for Amu to fill it. I doubt she'd do that unless she had a very good reason, so there's no logical way for Amu to fill that position.

"What an unfortunate rumor." A stuck up voice said from behind Amu. "Of course, it's wrong." Yeah, it isn't. I just wrote an entire paragraph as to why it's not.

Amu turned around and saw a girl with reddish-brown curly hair and tan skin standing behind her.

"I," The girl said. "Sayaa Yamabuki have excellent grades and appearance... My family also makes generous contributions to the school, so it is likely that I will be selected." Bitch.

"Why should your connections make any difference?" Manami asked. "It doesn't matter if a Guardian has money or not." Yeah, but it helps. Just ask your local Congressman. (Err, rather Representative in the National Diet seeing as this is Japan.)

"What?" Sayaa said in shock.

"I think Hinamori-san would be better." Wakana said.

Meanwhile, Amu turned her attention back to "the Prince" who was walking ever so slowly and gracefully along with his purple-haired companion towards the front entrance to the school. Sayaa looked at her with a mixture of hatred, frustration, and annoyance.

"How annoying..." She muttered to herself. "She just transferred here halfway through the year. Now look at her."

Amu was too absorbed in her thoughts to hear what she was saying.

_Ah... The prince. His face is so moving... Beautiful hair and slender frame. It's just that cape. I..._ She then averted her gaze from him. _I can't say it! The school's prince wouldn't be attracted to a girl like me. Never..._

**Clink.**

Amu felt her bag move and heard something bump into something else. She opened up her bag and saw that one of the eggs was wiggling in there.

_It's moving?_ She thought as she reached into the bag and tried to fix the positioning of the egg. I guess she must have thought that something in her bag was causing the egg to move or something. However, she probably realized that this thought was incorrect when the egg started struggling against her hand. The egg was so strong; Amu had a hard time trying to keep the egg inside of the bag.

The egg only stopped struggling when Amu felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw the same blond hair and ruby eyes that she had been gazing at only a few moments before. He looked at hew with the kind of amazement and disbelief you'd see in one of those love-at-first-sight romance films.

"Um..." He said, too overcome with shock to formulate proper sentences. "I uh... Could that be you...?"

"Huh?" Amu said in confusion and embarrassment.

She and the boy stood there in a strange awkward silence for a few seconds. The boy still had his hand on her shoulder which just made it more awkward. All Amu could hear around her were other kids whispering to each other. No doubt that they were making up more rumors. She didn't know what to do. Everyone was talking about her while her new found crush held his hand on her shoulder. All she knew was that if everyone thought she liked him, they wouldn't think she was cool anymore and she didn't want that. (_Did she?_) So, she did the only thing that she could think to do.

A collective gasp of shock was released as Amu slapped away the boy's hand.

"I don't have any business with you," She said coldly in the sudden silence that had engulfed the schoolyard. "So don't grab me like that... Little Prince."

"I..." Tadase said, blushing as the entire schoolyard broke into sudden choruses of "ooos" and shouts of outrage. "I'm sorry."

Amu just turned and calmly walked into the school. As soon as she was around a corner and no one would see her, she began to freak out for the second time that morning.

_I did it again!_ She thought as she screamed. _I am such an idiot. That was my first contact dream and I..._

* * *

"Do you think that girl...?" The purple haired girl started saying to the blond boy after the schoolyard had calmed down.

"Yeah..." The blond boy said. "Probably. I think she already has the eggs. That girl has a character."

Vague as fuck.

* * *

Although I really honestly believe that he is smarter than me, there are some things that Ikuto has done that I believe are extremely stupid and would never do myself. What do I mean by that? Well, for one, when he went to return the lock necklace to the Royal Garden, he made the mistake of going there in broad daylight during a school day. First off, that's trespassing. I know because I often cut through the schoolyard as a faster way to get to Route Three-twenty-seven and have been told this several times. If someone were to see him (Which is very likely because it's during school hours and they usually have a whole bunch of security people patrolling during school hours. Especially since the shooting...) he'd get caught and he'd get to have a nice conversation with the cops.

His second mistake was kind of half my fault, mostly because I was the one who spilled the sand on the floor trying to break open the glass case. Once he was inside the record-keeping room (_Both the doors to that and the Royal Garden were unlocked._), he walked straight through the spilled sand, leaving behind footprints which could easily be used to identify him.

His third mistake was not closing the door behind him. His fourth mistake was picking up the egg-shaped case and not just leaving the lock in the glass case or something. His fifth mistake was turning around when he heard that girl behind him gasp. The only thing he did right was run.

* * *

"Then," The blond boy in the blue cape said into the microphone. "if everyone is here, then we will begin this assembly."

The students had gathered in the school's gym/auditorium for a Guardian's assembly. Every once in a while, the Guardians have an assembly to discuss school issues, I guess. It doesn't seem to happen that often, though. Nearly every student from grades one to six was there, including Amu, who was not paying attention to anything "the Prince" was saying and was just sitting there fantasizing about him.

_The Prince..._ She thought. _I can see him so clearly from here... He doesn't seem to be human. There's such a wonderful smell... _Pervert. _And when I was with him before... I'll bet he hates me now..._

Dafaq? What you did wasn't that bad. I've done much worse to people who just accidentally gazed my boob while trying to reach around me for a button on the elevator. You just slapped his hand away and told him not to touch you. That's what most people would call the reasonable response. He can't hate you for responding reasonably to a stranger's touch. Stop worrying about it.

"Anyone with an opinion please raise your hand." Tadase said into the microphone.

_"I'm sorry about before." "Actually, I like you." "...I want to be your girlfriend..." I want to say that, but I'm not supposed to be like that. It's not my character._

_So why don't you change?_

Amu's eyes widened upon hearing the voice.

_From a disobedient girl to an obedient girl! Character Change!_

The X-shaped clip that held up a portion of Amu's hair in a side ponytail changed to a heart-shaped one. All of a sudden, Amu was out of control of her own actions. She just stood up on her chair, raised her hand as high as she could and said with eyes sparkling:

"Yes! I'm sorry! I like you!"

Dead silence.

Everyone turned to look at the sparkling girl that they all knew as the girl who was so "cool and spicy" that she was above childish crushes and making an ass of herself in such a public manner. "The Prince" store at her in shock.

After a few seconds the heart-shaped clip was changed back to an X-shaped one, causing the gravity of the situation to hit Amu all at once. She put her hand down, but she didn't have the sense to get down from the chair. A bright red blush spread across her cheeks.

"Huh." She muttered to herself. "Wha... What... Just now..."

_A voice inside my head?_

Amu looked around her. Kids were already whispering among themselves. Probably either making up more rumors or saying how uncool she was. Tadase was still standing at the podium and had shaken off his shock.

"We are currently in the middle of an assembly." He said into the microphone. "Please discuss opinions that deal with the topic at hand and there is someone else that I like. I'm sorry."

Amu felt like someone had just driven a knife straight through her chest. Her face was bright red and her eyes looked like they were about to well up with tears. She had been rejected in probably the most humiliating fashion in history. ...Or at least that's how she felt. I'm sure you could find more humiliating rejections if you searched on Google.

_No... He... He's..._

Amu then jumped off of the chair and ran out of the auditorium, crying. She didn't care if she looked weak; she didn't care what anyone else said about her. She just wanted to be out of there. So much so that she didn't pay attention to where she was running and ended up going out the front gates.

_Wh-why!? _She thought as she ran. _My mouth moved on its own... I... I said... That's not my personality! I said that in front of everyone... And worse: "There's someone else that I like." Ugh! That was so embarrassing! I want to crawl into a hole..._

And then Amu fell into a hole. Yeah, not even joking about that she seriously fell, screaming into a hole in that moment. Apparently while she was running, she somehow accidentally wandered onto a nearby construction site. I don't know how you can do that with big machines, construction workers, a chain-link fence, and a bunch of signs everywhere that are supposed to prevent something like this from happening but somehow she did.

A few seconds after landing, Amu sat up, coughing. The drop was only eight feet. Not enough to break anything, but just enough to knock the wind out of her.

"Ow..." She groaned as she tried to regain the ability to breathe. "Huh? That didn't hurt that badly." She began to feel the ground around her. "Huh? What kind of ground is that soft...?"

Amu looked over and saw midnight blue eyes staring back at her. She had landed on a boy. More specifically, my brother. Yeah, after he got caught, he ran and I guess he didn't pay attention to where he was running either. Why he chose to fall asleep in that hole is anyone's guess. I have his memories and I still can't figure out his exact reasoning behind it.

_Huh?_ She thought in confusion as Ikuto sat up. They locked eyes for a few seconds. Amu looked scared and confused beyond all hell and Ikuto was just tired.

"Who...?" He said as he ran his fingers through his hair. "...Agh... I was having such a good dream..."

_A boy?_ Amu thought as she watched Ikuto slowly wake up and pull his legs out from underneath her._ I've seen him around. He seems cool, but why is he in this hole? A dream... He couldn't have been sleeping here? ...He's strange..._

"...The eggs..." He mumbled to himself. He then leaned over and began to smell Amu's hair. Pervert.

"Huh?" Amu said as Ikuto sniffed her hair. "He... Hey..."

"You have the smell of birth." Ikuto said with a smirk as he pulled away. "Do you have your **character?**" Where the fuck is this coming from?

Amu squealed as she tried to back away, but Ikuto caught her before she could get away. He began to touch all over her body, searching for the eggs and holy shit this is so wrong in so many ways.

For those of you who don't see the problem, what Ikuto is doing right now can technically be considered sexual assault because one, she's a minor (_Well, technically he's fifteen, so that would make him a minor, too. But, that's not the point._), and two he's touching her in places she doesn't want to be touched. In fact, she's verbally objecting to being touched, so yeah, sexual fucking assault. Christ, remind me to kick his ass next time I see him.

"Where would you hide something precious?" He muttered to himself as he searched Amu. At this point, Amu had enough and pushed away.

"Don't!" Amu shouted. "Don't touch me! You strange pervert!"

However, at the moment she pulled away, she didn't notice him pulling one of the eggs out of her bag. It took a few seconds for Amu to register that he was holding up the pink egg with the heart pattern.

"See." He said. Amu turned to look and saw that the flap on her bag was open.

"Ah!" She exclaimed. "The egg!" She then ran at him and reached for the egg. He moved his hand so it was out of her reach. "What are you doing? Give it back! Thief!"

"Hey now." Ikuto said.

"Strange egg thief!" She shouted.

Their little squabble quickly came to a stop, however, when they heard a loud rumbling sound above them. Amu and Ikuto slowly looked up and saw a huge backhoe about to dump a load of dirt on them. The moment you realize you're screwed...

_No way._

"Um..." Amu said fearfully. "Can it bury us?" It's a fucking backhoe! What do you think?

Before Amu could think to call out for help (_Which even if she had, it probably would have been done in vain._), Ikuto jumped out of the hole to safety and the backhoe began dumping all of the dirt on Amu. She screamed as the dirt hit her back. In that moment, she thought she was going to die.

_No! Not... Not like this!_

Just then, the pink egg that was in Ikuto's hand broke free of his grip and floated towards Amu. As it did, the egg broke open to reveal a tiny person inside. The person had pink hair tied up in a side ponytail and pink eyes. She wore a pink visor with a darker pink heart clipped to it, a pink dress, a dark pink bandanna around her neck, pink sneakers and pink knee-socks, and she held pink pom poms in her hands.

"The... The egg!" Amu exclaimed as she noticed that it had hatched. (Kind of hard for her to notice at first seeing as dirt was being poured on her.) The small person blinked a couple of times, before jumping into action.

"Hey," The tiny person exclaimed as she floated closer to Amu's face. "What are you doing Amu-chan? Jump!"

_It talked._

"J-jump?" Amu questioned, probably unsure of what else to say.

"Amu-chan's personality," The tiny person said with the wave of a pom pom. "change! Make the girl who can't jump into a girl who can! Character Change!" Just then the X-shaped clip in Amu's hair turned into a heart-shaped one again. "Hop!" Tiny little wings appeared on the back of Amu's wrists. "Step!" Another pair appeared on the back of her ankles. "Jump!" Suddenly, Amu found herself being thrust out of the hole she was trapped in and several feet into the air above the construction site.

Now, obviously, Amu reacted to this in the way any normal person would. She freaked the fuck out, possibly risking falling out of the sky and onto the hard, painful ground below.

"What..." She exclaimed. "What?! What is this?! No! What's with these ten-year-old 'fancy items'!? AH! I'M GOING TO DIE! SAVE ME!" Calm the fuck down.

Eventually, she did calm the fuck down and somehow made it to the safety of a steel beam ten stories into the air. Wait, what? Yeah, I think she was more concerned with finding something solid to stand on that she didn't notice that there was no safe way to get down from there. As soon as she did notice how high up she was, she quickly hugged the steel beam next to her.

"Now we're in even more trouble." Amu said to the tiny floating person, the shaking in her voice almost as obvious as the shaking in her limbs. "What just happened? What are you?"

"I'm Ran," The tiny person said. "Your Guardian Character."

"Guardian Character?" Amu repeated, questioningly.

"That's right." Ran said. "I'm who you want to be."

"Who I want to be?" Amu repeated, this time less questioningly and more in disbelief. The shocked and awed kind of disbelief, not the "no way in hell" kind of disbelief.

"Isn't that what you wished for?" Ran asked. "To be someone else? I was born from those feelings."

"T-that's impossible." Amu said, being a little kuudere again. "I don't believe you."

"Believe me!" Ran said. "Then you can be who you want-to-be!" Then Ran waved her pom poms around a bit, causing Amu to become slightly annoyed.

She didn't stay annoyed for long though, because a more pressing matter came up onto the steel beam. Ikuto had jumped up all the way from the ground onto the steel beam Amu was standing on. I... F-first you fall asleep in a hole for no reason and then you climb up to a dangerous height that you could easily fall to your death from. What the hell, Ikuto? Do you want to die today?

Regardless, although only a total of five minutes had passed since Amu last saw him, she immediately noticed something drastically different about his appearance. He now had a pair of cat ears and a tail that were the same color as his hair.

"So now you're a Character Bearer." He said with a smirk and a twitch of his ears.

"Him again?" Amu said. "And now he has cat ears?"

Ikuto walked over to where Amu was standing on the other side of the beam.

"What?" Amu said.

Ikuto sniffed the air between them.

"It seems you have more eggs." He said.

"Two of them." A Guardian Character appeared behind Ikuto and said. This one had short hair the same navy color as Ikuto's and gold eyes. He had cat ears and a tail and had cat paws instead of hands and feet. He wore a sleeveless black shirt, black shorts, a silver cross necklace and a silver chain.

"Who are you guys?" Amu demanded to know. Ran flew in front of Amu protectively. (_As if that would help anything_.)

"Be careful, Amu-chan." Ran said. "These guys are after your- AH!" Ikuto easily flicked her away. Amu turned in the direction Ran fell in out of shock and Ikuto used that as an opportunity to come up behind her.

"So your name is Amu?" He said as he slid his hand into Amu's jacket pocket. Amu noticed this immediately, and the heart-shaped hair clip turned back into an X-shaped one (_Wait, she was still character changed?_) and she began to wildly swing one arm at Ikuto while she still had the other wrapped around the steel beam for stability.

"Don't touch me there you jerk!" She screamed. At least he wasn't touching in all of those places that he was earlier.

Now that I think about it, Amu should have seen this coming. Searching her pocket was just a distraction. Ikuto was using his other hand to search her bag again. He knew the other two eggs were in there. I mean, if one was in there, who's to say the other two weren't either, right? After a few seconds of searching, Ikuto pulled the blue egg with the spades pattern and the green egg with the clovers pattern out from Amu's bag.

"Found them." He said with a smirk. Amu just stood there, mouth a gape.

"Give them back, you egg thief!" Ran shouted.

"Looks like they're about to be born." Ikuto said.

"Ikuto, let's go." The cat-like Guardian Character said as he began to float away. Ikuto trailed behind him with Amu's eggs in hand.

"Wait!" Amu exclaimed in vain; Ikuto continued to walk away.

_My eggs are... _Amu thought, almost helplessly as she watched a cat-eared perverted jerk carry them away. _My eggs... _Amu felt something building up within her. _Who I want to be..._ She wasn't sure if it was anger or determination, she just knew that something was driving her to retrieve her eggs. _What..._

"What are you doing with my eggs?" Amu shouted.

Ikuto turned around in surprise and saw Amu rushing at him. He lost his grip on the eggs as he stepped out of the way to avoid colliding with her. As the eggs fell, Amu dove for them and caught them in her hand. Unfortunately for her though, that resulted in her losing her footing on the ten-story tall structure and caused her to go plummeting down to the ground below.

"Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed as she immediately began to fly to her bearer's side.

Ikuto looked down in shock and horror.

"She fell." The cat-like Guardian Character said. Thank you, Catherine Obvious.

"Amu-chan," Ran exclaimed, somehow staying calm considering the circumstances. "Let's jump again! Let's do another Character Change!"

"But..." Amu said, in protest. Really? You're protesting now? If it's gonna save your god damn life just fucking do it!

"Believe!" Ran exclaimed. "Believe in who you want to be!"

"Who I want to be..." Amu said. She immediately went back to what she said the night before.

_Oh, Great Fortune Teller, please give me courage. I wish to be given a new life._

"Who I want to be!" Amu shouted.

In that moment, the Lock that I stole - which Ikuto still had - began to glow several different colors on the crystal part and the entire thing flew out of his pocket and towards Amu. All of a sudden, the world around Amu dissolved into sparkles, leaving nothing but her, Ran, the two eggs and the lock. As it came closer to her, Amu reached out and grabbed it.

The next thing Amu knew, she was floating in the sky. Her uniform had been replaced with a pink, sleeveless mini-tank top with a gold zipper down the middle, a pink pleated skirt with a dark pink ribbon around it, pink legwarmers over pink sneakers, a dark pink ribbon tied around her neck, and a pink visor with a heart-shaped clip on it. Also, instead of a section of her pink hair being tied up in a side-ponytail, all of her hair was pulled up into one. In addition to the outfit change, Amu suddenly felt extremely light.

"What's up with this outfit?" Was the first thing Amu said as she tried to process what just happened? "This is embarrassing! I'm not like this at all! But, this is strange; my body's as light as a feather!"

And then Amu, unable to resist temptation, floated so high up in the sky that she could see airplanes passing below her. Christ, do you have a death wish or something?

"Great job, Amu-chan!" Amu could hear Ran's voice say from within her. "You can do a Chara Nari already!" Chara Nari is Japanese for Character Transformation. The reason why I chose to use the original Japanese for this one phrase is because Character Transformation just seems like a mouthful to me.

"Chara Nari?" Amu questioned.

"It's when you use one-hundred twenty percent of your Guardian Character's power." Ran said. Well, that's what it is in the simplest of terms. To explain it a little better, it's when your heart's egg goes inside your body (_with the Guardian Character inside of it_) and allows you to use the Guardian Character's power. Yes, I am serious, the egg goes inside you. How exactly does it go inside you? It just phases through your chest.

Each Chara Nari is different. If you transform with a different Guardian Character, you become something different. Like right now, Amu is Chara Naried with Ran, so she transformed into a Cheerleader and has abilities based on Ran's abilities. I'm sure if she transformed with one of her other Guardian Characters, she'd become something different and have different abilities based on those Guardian Characters.

"Chara Nari..." Amu repeated just as she got a glimpse of how high up she was. If anyone wants to make an attempt to guess how high that was, just know that it was at the point where that ten-story high iron structure she was standing on before looked like a tiny gray dot.

Let's just guess how Amu will react to this.

"No way!" She screamed. "I shouldn't be able to do this!" If you said that she'd flip the fuck out, congratulations! You won!

"A-Amu-chan," Ran said, trying to calm down the panicking flying cheerleader. "Believe in yourself! If you don't..."

Ran didn't get a chance to finish that sentence before Amu's panicking caused the Chara Nari to let go and Amu to change back to normal and begin to plummet to her doom again.

"Amu-chan!" Ran shouted as she tried to catch up to the now surely doomed girl.

Amu, however, wasn't freaking out this time. I think she thought that her luck had run out for the day and that nothing was going to save her this time. She was just about to give up all hope when she landed in a soft, squishy, Jell-O-like substance. Before she could process what had happened, she suddenly found herself in the arms of her crush.

"T-the Prince..." She said quietly to herself in awe of his "beautiful" face. However, his "beautiful" face wasn't all she noticed. The prince now had a tiny gold crown upon his head and was holding a scepter in one of his hands.

Meanwhile, Ikuto jumped down from where he had been standing on the iron structure and onto the back of the backhole that had tried to bury them earlier. (_I guess the construction workers must have gone on break.)_

"You again," Ikuto turned and said to the boy. "Kiddy King?"

"It's against the rules to go after eggs right after they're born!" Tadase said to Ikuto as he gently put Amu down on the ground. "Not to mention, you tried to get your hands on the Humpty Lock." ...I did that though... "Ikuto Tsukiyomi!"

"I think it's your fault for leaving it there." Ikuto's Guardian Character said. ...That is kind of true, but it's my fault for taking it in the first place. Wait, are they taking the blame for me?

"I won't give you the Embryo!" The Prince declared.

"Embryo?" Amu repeated in confusion. However, she was ignored.

Ikuto clenched a fist and suddenly a giant, translucent navy blue cat's paw appeared over it. He then swung it at the Prince and Amu.

"Holy Crown!" The Prince said, pointing the scepter at Ikuto and causing a burst of golden energy to appear out of it. The golden energy collided with Ikuto's cat paw. There was a power struggle for a few seconds before the golden energy overtook the paw, obliterated it, and caused a bright light to envelop the area. Amu shut her eyes to protect them from such a bright light, but when she opened them, Ikuto was gone.

"They're gone." Amu said as she got up from the ground.

"He's good at stirring up trouble." The Prince said. "I guess he ran away." The crown and scepter disappeared and he turned to Amu, pulled out a handkerchief, and held it to her face. "Are you okay?" He asked sweetly. "You're not hurt, are you?"

For a second, Amu couldn't respond due to shock.

"I'm fine." She eventually said, weakly.

"Hotori-kun," Amu heard someone say. She looked over and saw the purple-haired girl that the Prince (_OH MY FUCKING GOD, I AM SICK OF THIS! HIS REAL NAME IS TADASE HOTORI, OKAY! Sorry if I ruined the air of mystery for anyone..._) was walking with earlier standing at the gates to the construction zone. "We need you back at the Guardians' Assembly. Everyone's waiting."

Tadase gave her a polite nod before turning back to Amu.

"You should go home for the rest of the day." He said before starting to walk off. "See you."

"U-um..." Amu said suddenly. Tadase stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. "U-um, this..." She pointed at the Humpty Lock.

"Why don't you hold on to it for now," Tadase said. "Amu Hinamori-san." Then he walked over to the purple-haired girl and walked with her.

Meanwhile, Amu suddenly became lost in her own little fangirl world. The words Tadase just said to her repeating over and over in her head.

"He said my name!" Amu jumped up and down and cheered as soon as she was sure he was out of an earshot. "On top of that, he even carried me like a princess!" She then held the handkerchief that Tadase had apparently given to her (_Or she stole, which ever floats your boat._) and took a deep inhale. "The prince's handkerchief smells nice!"

"Smells get you going, huh?" Ran said, snapping Amu back to reality.

"You're still here?" Amu shouted.

"Of course." Ran said. "I'm your Guardian Character! So are those kids who are about to be born."

Amu looked down at the two eggs still in her hand with mixed emotions. She then looked over at Ran, who smiled at her.

"B-but..." Amu was about to say something in protest, but suddenly remembered what happened earlier. "Right..." She said sadly. "I was rejected."

"Don't worry about it!" Ran cheered. "You'll have plenty more chances!" Amu just shot her a glare and then walked away, irritated. "Huh? Amu-chan, wait for me!" Ran said as she tried to catch up to her bearer, who was quickly getting away.

"Shut up!" Amu said. "Don't follow me."

"Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed.

"Jeez," Amu said, annoyed. "I don't know anything about Guardian Spirits or Guardian Characters, so leave me alone!"

"Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed for a second time.

Meanwhile, in the back of her mind, Amu was wondering to herself,

_Still, there are two eggs left. I wonder what type of Characters they'll be._

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**Special Thanks to nymphomaniac for beta-ing this for me.**

**The original version of this chapter is still available to read on FanFiction. Just go to the fic titled "The Original Version". (In case any of you wanted to see how much I failed as a writer a year ago.)**

**UPDATE 5/14/15: I am still working on re-writing this fic. I plan on replacing everything from Chapter Two to the beginning of Chapter Eighteen. (A.K.A. From "The Heart's Egg" to "The First Heir".) The only thing that's keeping me from doing that right now is that I want to have the first chapter of _Hi no Nami: Black Diamond_ completed first and itis a dragon that does not want to be slain. I'm currently on page twenty-nine and I'm nowhere NEAR done yet. So, yeah. If you still want to continue on, go right ahead but just know that the quality of the writing is going to drop off quite a bit until Chapter Nineteen. **

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**Uploaded to FanFiction on 2/28/15. **


	4. The Heart's Egg

**Look! I'm updating!**

**"Sing for the Moment" by Eminem**

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I laid with my head between two pillows as I listened to the _Family Guy _episode that was playing on my TV. It was a later season episode and had something to do with Quagmire being bald. I didn't really know because my TV is in a corner of my room that doesn't face my bed. I was just happy for the white noise.

I had put a gauze pad on my hand and used the wrappings from when I had sprained my ankle a while back and masking tape to hold it in place. Probably not the best thing to do, but then again I basically had to work with what I had, so...

I had tried to sleep after I did that, but all I ever ended up with was a light doze. Although that was probably bad seeing as I had been awake for a full forty-eight hours before that, I was actually kind of thankful that I didn't fall fully asleep. I have nightmares. Really bad ones. Horrifying, actually. It's technically the result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but to be honest all I think it is, is getting what I deserve. I'm responsible for a lot of horrible things... I think I deserve never to get a full night's sleep again.

I was beginning to feel like I was going to doze off again when I heard the front door open and close. I quickly got up and grabbed the knife I keep under my pillow. Although I did my best to make sure the front and back doors stay locked, Ikuto and my mother didn't really seem to bother with it. They didn't see what the big deal was and used the fact that the window in my bed room was (and still is) broken as an argument whenever I brought it up. First off, the window in my bedroom was only broken because I was drunk, angry, and thought throwing my hairdryer through it would solve my problems. Second off, unlike the front and back doors my window is not and easy access point. In order to enter the house though my window, you have to climb up the tree in the back yard, shimmy across the wires that connect the transformers to the house, and then re-enact Stephen King's _The Ledge_ in order to get into my room. I know my stalker can't climb trees well, let alone shimmy across those wires, so I wasn't concerned about it.

Oh, yes. I had a stalker. He is a jerk who would rape me without any problems if given the chance, hence why I was so concerned about the doors being unlocked. I didn't tell my mother or Ikuto about this though. I didn't want them to get involved because I thought it would make things more messy. The less they knew, the better.

I slowly opened my door with the knife in my hand. I was expecting to see my stalker waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, but instead I saw nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief. If it was my stalker, he'd either be waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs or pounding at my bedroom door, begging for me to let him in. I then heard the refrigerator door open and immediately my guard went up again. Yes, it could easily be my mother or Ikuto, but it could also easily be one of the crack heads from the neighborhood that had just wandered in and thought they could raid our fridge for food. Seeing as crack head can be kind of unpredictable, I still took my knife with me, just in case.

I made my way down the stairs and around the corner. I was cautious as to not make my tread to heavy or loud. With the knife still in my hand; fully prepared to do the unthinkable with it, I turned the corner and saw...

...My brother, with an expression on his face that made it seem like he was trying to make food appear in the fridge out of thin air. I now fully let relief flood me and at the same time let out a groan of aggravation.

"Don't scare me like that!" I groaned as I put the knife down on the table. "I thought you were a marauder or something." Ikuto turned and looked at me with an expression I couldn't read.

"Aren't marauders pirates?" He said. "What would a pirate be doing in land-locked Toride?"

"You never know." I said. "We have a black market and pirates are less than moral characters, so there's one thing that would attract them. Also, we have a river that goes out to the ocean. So we're not entirely land-locked."

"Whatever." Ikuto said, giving up the argument. "So, you weren't lying when you said that mother ate everything."

"Of course I wasn't." I said. "Why would I lie about that."

"To justify immoral behavior." He knows me too well.

"Well, it doesn't matter now." I said. "Now that you've gotten rid of that necklace, we have no way of acquiring dinner for tonight and before you ask "Why don't you go hunting?", I think it would be a little difficult with my hand like this." I then held up my bandaged hand.

"Oh, god!" He exclaimed upon seeing the slightly red wrappings. "Why didn't you go to the hospital?"

"Oh yes." I said sarcastically. "Go to the hospital. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to find out that I have a non-existent insurance plan and absolutely no way to pay them back."

"Well, it's better than taking care of it yourself." He said. "I mean, are you sure you're not gonna get an infection from that?"

"It's fine." I assured. "Anyways, that's not my top concern at the moment. Right now, I'm just worried about eating."

"Well, we don't have many options." Ikuto said. "We could try dining and dashing."

"Nah." I said. "I think that's a bad idea. Especially since we're banned from nearly every restaurant in Toride and all the towns surrounding it for that exact reason."

"We could go outside of this area." Ikuto suggested.

"Yes." I said. "I'm going to take an hour and a half train ride to potentially get arrested for stealing food from some restaurant."

"Look," He said. "I'm just trying to figure something out here. If you have a better idea, I'm all ears."

"Well..." I said. "I do have one idea... But you're probably going to reject it right off the bat."

"What is it?" Ikuto asked.

"Well..." I said. "Remember that movie we saw a couple weeks ago? The one that Trey Parker and Matt Stone made when they were in college."

"Yeah." He said initially not comprehending, but after a few seconds realization crossed his face. "Oh my god, Marceline. You're not honestly suggesting..."

"Oh, come on!" I said. "We're desperate and that's what desperate people do!"

"We're not that desperate, Marceline!" He exclaimed in disgust.

"We don't have any food, Ikuto." I said seriously.

"That doesn't mean we have to go and eat a person." He said just as seriously.

"The Donner Party did it." I pointed out. "And so did that Alferd Packer guy from the movie."

"Alright," Ikuto said. "first off, the Donner Party was stranded. They didn't have any other choice. Second off, that 'Alferd Packer guy' was a fictional character that came from the minds of the guys who created _South Park_. He wasn't real and none of that really happened."

"No, you're wrong." I said. "He was real and he actually did eat people. I can go get my laptop and show you it online."

"That's not the point!" He snapped. "We're not kidnapping someone and eating them!"

"Who said we'd kidnap them?" I said.

"What?" Ikuto said like I was completely insane.

"Think about it." I said. "Mother rarely goes outside and interacts with people. I doubt that anyone outside the local pharmacy would notice that she's missing..." Ikuto's eyes went wide.

"Please tell me you're joking." He said. I tried to remain straight-face but I slowly felt my lips turn upwards and the laughter build inside of me. Eventually I gave in and began laughing like a wild hyena. A mixture of relief and disgust crossed Ikuto's face.

"Oh my god," He exclaimed. "that's sick! You're sick!"

"Oh, I know!" I was able to get out through the laughter.

"You can't joke about matricide and cannibalism in real life!" Ikuto exclaimed. "When you talk about it all seriously like that, people take you seriously. You can only do that kind of crap on _South Park_."

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed through the laughter. "Oh my god I actually got you to believe that! **You**! The guy who never believes anything I say!"

Unbeknownst to me, Ikuto noticed something I didn't.

"Uh, Marceline." He said.

"I mean," I continued. "as much as I hate the bitch, I would never actually **seriously **suggest that we kill her and eat her! Come on, what kind of sick psychopathic freak do you take me for?"

"Marceline." He said again with growing urgency.

"Oh," I said, still laughing. "you should have seen the look on your face! You're eyes were all wide and you looked like I had just slit a puppy's throat in front of you! It was ridiculous! You looked like a-"

"Marceline!" He said loudly enough to get my attention.

"What?" I questioned, wondering why he felt the sudden need to raise his voice.

"Behind you." He said more calmly this time.

I turned and looked behind me and I saw my mother standing there in the doorway to the kitchen. Her white-blonde hair was tousled, her white nightgown was crinkled, her white bathrobe loosely clung to her body, her violet eyes were wide, and her jaw was slack. Looking into her eyes, I noticed that they weren't foggy in the slightest. Meaning, she hasn't popped any pills yet and her mind was completely clear.

_Oh god she heard that._ I thought.

"Shit." I said.

"Language!" My mother said weakly. I think she was in too much shock to snap at me.

"Mother," I said, desperately hoping that my words would keep her from getting too upset. "It was only a joke."

"You said you were going to kill and eat me." She said in shock.

"It was only a joke." I repeated. "I wasn't serious about it."

"It doesn't matter." She said, her normally sugary-sweet voice reaching a squeaky pitch. "You should **never** talk about your mother that way."

"Oh really?" I said. "The only reason why I made that joke in the first place was because **you** ate all of our food and stole our cash to support your little habit."

"It was an emergency!" My mother squeakily justified.

"Oh, yes." I said. "You being out of Valium is a life or death crisis. I'm surprised that the Governor didn't call a state of emergency."

"Knock it off, Marci-chan." She said, attempting to sound firm.

"Why should I?" I questioned. "You obviously don't care." I then walked right past her, went around the corner and began to charge up the stairs.

"Marceline!" She called after me.

"Oh, shut the fuck up you bitch!" I shouted in response.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to use that kind of language with me?" She squeaked.

"Oh, shut the fuck up already!" I shouted back. "You don't give two fucks about me so that gives me the right to say whatever the fuck I want!"

"No it doesn't!" She squeaked. "I'm your mother!"

_And a shitty one at that._

"Like I give a fuck!" I shouted back as I angrily marched to my room and flung open the door.

"Marceline Alicia Tsukiyomi!" She squeak-shouted.

_Oh god, she's using my full name. She's really upset. _Despite thinking that, I didn't care in the slightest.

"Go to hell, bitch!" I shouted as I slammed the door shut. I immediately locked it and pushed the dresser in front of it to keep her from coming in. I sighed as she began to bang at the door and call my name. I turned the on the stereo and then turned it all the way up to block her out. It was playing "Sing for the Moment" by Eminem.

"Jesus Christ, that bitch is psycho." I muttered to myself. "Wish I could run away." I sighed again.

_No way that's ever gonna happen. I'm gonna have to live every day of the next seven years of my life going at it with this bitch._

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm myself down.

_You know what, I just need to get away from this shit._

I sighed, grabbed my backpack and coat from the desk chair, and jumped out of my broken window.

* * *

Hey, can I go and hang out at your dorm? The text I sent to my best friend, Sarah Genatiempo, said.

yea im not their tho Unlike me, she doesn't use proper spelling and pronunciations in her texts.

Where are you, then? I texted back.

im kais I groaned when I saw that text. "kais" probably referred to the home of Kai Nashi. A thirty-four-year old pot head who had no problem buying alcohol for minors and allowing them to drink it in his basement. The people who frequented that place outside of me and Sarah were Akiko Fukui and her boyfriend Hideyoshi Suzuki, Chouko Yukimura and her boyfriend Michi Kimura, and Shizuka Oshiro.

To be honest, I didn't really want to go there. I don't really like most of the people who hung out there and usually only mostly went for the free beer. I just wanted to lie down in some place quiet and try to get at least a few hours sleep before I woke up screaming and crying from a nightmare.

Okay then. Is it alright if I just go straight to your dorm? I had a fight with my mom and I'm pretty tired. I sent that text and crossed my fingers and toes.

_Please don't let there be any issues._

u cold but u woldnt get in Sarah sent back.

_God damn it._ My eyes went wide and I let out a frustrated growl.

Why not? I have a key, remember?

yea but i had da luck charged

You had the lock changed?

yea

Why?

I waited about two minutes while Sarah typed the next text. I spent that time sitting on a wooden bench that sat by the bus stop near my house. (Easter gives me an annual frequent commuter pass, so I didn't have to worry about bus or subway fairs.) During that time, I just bounced my knee and resisted the urge to scream a long string of cuss words at my phone. As if that would make Sarah type faster.

When Sarah finally I nearly jumped for joy. My face fell when I saw what she actually typed, though.

i came bak from class da other daye &amp; i saw sum guy ling on da sparse bed sniffin da pillo i kiked da guyz ass &amp; cased him out o da rum &amp; ater dat i told da head o student relashions dat i wanted the lucks charged on mai door

...And for those of you who could not understand that at all, basically, she said that she had come back from class to find some guy lying on the spare bed (The one I normally sleep on when I crash at her dorm. She doesn't have a roommate because she doesn't get along with people too well.) sniffing the pillows. She pretty much threw him out and then asked the head of student relations to have the locks changed on her door.

Once again, I found myself groaning in frustration. My stalker had apparently figured out that I frequented Sarah's dorm and used it as an opportunity to be a complete and utter perv. How wonderful is that?

I am so sorry about that. I wrote back.

y

I think I know who that was and I am just sorry for the fact that you had to deal with him. He's a freaking pervert.

o its ok no prob

So, how am I supposed to get into your dorm?

i half a ki on mi u can cum &amp; get it

_Oh, god __**damn **__it!_

Realizing that I had no other options, I sighed and began to make my way down the street to Kai Nashi's house.

* * *

I stood in front of the small, one-story house with increased annoyance. I had knocked twelve times and someone still had yet to come to the door. I was assuming that they couldn't hear due to the fact that they were blasting loud music in the basement and was seriously considering using a hatchet that was leaned up against the house to break in when Nashi finally opened the door.

"What the fucking hell?!" I shouted as the door opened. "I've been out there for twenty minutes! You're lucky I didn't attempt to break a god damned window!"

"Sorry..." Nashi muttered as he ran his fingers through his short, curly blond hair. "I was doin' some stuff... Music..."

Something... Something wasn't right there. I attempted to shrug it off and followed him into the house.

"You want a beer?" He asked as he stopped in front of the fridge.

"Nah," I said. "I'm just here to get something from Sarah."

"Kay..." He said. "Down stairs... Sarah is..." He began to walk towards a door on the other side of the room. I noticed that as he did so he moved slowly and walked leaning against the wall.

"You okay?" I asked, slightly concerned.

"Yeah..." He said. "Just gonna lie down..." He then turned and went into the room and shut the door. Shortly after I heard the distinctive click that indicated that it was locked. That was the last time that anyone saw him. I... I don't know what happened.

However, at the time I just figured he would be fine and just continued on my way downstairs. As I made my way down the old, creaky, wooden stairs, I heard the noise that was previously muffled by distance and walls grow to become ear-shatteringly loud. I had covered my ears for fear of going deaf.

"CAN SOMEONE TURN THE MUSIC DOWN?" I shouted as I reached the bottom steps. However, no one appeared to hear me. "GUYS!" I still had no luck in gaining their attention. "GUYS!" Once again, still no luck. It was at that point I decided to take matters into my own hands. I walked straight up to the stereo that was along a wall adjacent to the stairs and pulled the plug out. Immediately everyone's attention was on me.

"What the hell Tsukiyomi?" Michi Kimura, a man with tanned skin and dark hair who was apparently aspiring to be rock drummer Tommy Lee without being a rock drummer, said. "What the fuck did you do that for?"

"It was way too loud in here!" I explained. "None of you could even hear me knocking at the door!"

"Oh," Chouko Yukimura, a girl who was either scene or emo (I'm not sure which. They're really similar.) and had nearly all of her hair bleached blonde except for a few strands in the front that were dyed a sort of teal color, said. "sorry about that."

"Who told you to talk, bitch?" Kimura snapped at her. Chouko's pink eyes intermediately went wide and she quickly looked down.

"Hey!" Chouko's best friend, Akiko Fukui exclaimed. She, like Chouko was either scene or emo and hair that was black in the back, but the tresses in front were dyed purple and pink. She also, like Chouko, wore thick make up, but had more red-ish colored eyes. "Don't talk to her like that!"

"You shut the fuck up too, Fukui!" Kimura snapped at her.

"Why the hell should I shut the fuck up?" Akiko said, sending the most evil glare at Kimura. "You're the one who should shut the fuck up! What, with the way you talk to your god damn girlfriend." I should note that Akiko isn't normally like this. She's normally the sweetest thing you could ever meet (the same with Chouko) but when she's around Kimura and her boyfriend, Hideyoshi Suzuki, isn't around to stop her, she'll just go off on him. It's probably a good thing, too. Kimura needs someone to go off on him.

As Akiko and Kimura began to go at it and Chouko found a corner to cower in, I went over and sat next to Sarah. Sarah had natural blonde hair, which was shoulder length at the time was tied up in a messy pony tail and blue-grey eyes. She wore the standard uniform for the boarding school she attended, which consisted of a white collared shirt under a dark blue sweater, a dark blue tie, a dark blue skirt, dark blue thigh-length socks, and black dress shoes (which she took off at the door). She had sort of a sad look on her face, so I decided to attempt to find out what's wrong. (That's what friends do, right?)

"What's up?" I asked when I sat down.

"Oh, nothing." Sarah said as she scrolled through Tumblr on her phone. "Just a little bummed out is all."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well," Sarah said. "I have to take my grandmother shopping at the mall tomorrow."

"What's so bad about that?" I asked. I've never really had a grandmother (My father's mom died when he was a child and my mother's mom was in a bad car accident when I was about two and has been in a persistive vegetative state since.) so I don't really know why someone would not want to do something with their grandmother. Then again, I don't really know why they would either, so...

"She still thinks it's nineteen-fifty-two." Sarah looked up from her phone to explain. "I can already picture how this is gonna go. 'No grandma, we don't use those words anymore. That boy is allowed to drink from the fountain.'"

"Oh." I said. "Sorry about that. Wait, what is she doing in Japan if she's racist?"

"My dad brought her here." She explained. "He's gonna 'take care of her' and he wants me to give her one last fun day before that."

"I'm guessing 'take care of her' doesn't mean put her in a home." I said.

"No it does not." Sarah said.

"Did I ever mention that I think your dad's an asshole?" I asked. I hadn't met Sarah's dad, but from what she's told me, he doesn't sound like a good guy.

"Good." Sarah said. "I'm not alone in this club."

I grinned, just when Kimura decided to flip the coffee table that was in front of us.

"YOU KNOW WHAT," Kimura shouted. "FUCK THIS! GO SCREW YOURSELF BITCH!" That was directed at Akiko, who he also flipped off. He then grabbed Chouko by the arm and began dragging her towards the stairs. "COME ON YOU WHORE, WE'RE GOING HOME!"

"But I want to stay with Akiko!" Chouko attempted to protest, but Kimura wasn't going to have any of that.

"LIKE I GIVE A FUCK!" Kimura shouted as he dragged her upstairs. "YOU ARE MY GIRLFRIEND, YOU DUMBASS LITTLE WHORE, AND YOU DO WHAT I SAY AND I SAY WE'RE LEAVING!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Akiko shouted as she began to follow them up the stairs. As soon as they were gone, I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do you think I'll have to pass them on my way out?" I asked.

"Probably." Sarah said. "Unless you want to sit here and wait them out."

"Nah," I said. "I'd rather just go back to your dorm and lie down. I've had a long day."

"Is it your mother or your brother that's mad at you?" Sarah asked as she took the key out of her pocket and held it out to me.

"Mother." I responded as I took the key. "Although, I'd say my brother has every reason in the world to be mad at me right now."

"What did you do?" Sarah asked.

"Apparently," I said as I stood up. "stealing isn't justifiable, even when you're starving. Unless it's actual food, of course. That is okay to steal."

"I'm guessing there's more but you don't really want to explain it to me." Sarah said.

"Not enough time in the world." I said. "How much longer do you think you're gonna be here?"

"When I'm so drunk I have trouble saying the alphabet backwards," Sarah said. "but not so drunk that I can't walk home by myself."

"Just take the bus." I said. "It's faster."

"The bus is for migrant workers." Sarah said.

"Sarah," I said. "You're American. In this case, that makes you a migrant."

"Yes," Sarah said. "but I don't work."

"And don't I know it." I remarked.

"Hey!" Sarah protested, although I don't think she really took offense.

"Kidding!" I said, but then added under my breath: "Not really." I then began to make my way towards the stairs and groaned as I heard Akiko and Kimura's fighting growing louder. "I'll see you later if I survive."

"Later!" Sarah called back as I reached the top of the stairs.

* * *

Amu sat at the desk in her room. It had been a day since everything that had happened; since she found the eggs in her bed; since she had found out about the Guardians; since she had confessed her feelings for Tadase in front of the entire student body; since she fell in a hole and met Ikuto; since her egg hatched and she both Character Changed and Chara Naried for the first time. Seriously, a lot had happened in a short twenty-four hour time span.

Amu was only half dressed for school. She had her socks, leggings, skirt, shirt and tie on, but she had yet to put on her belt or jacket and hadn't done her hair yet. She sat there, reflecting on everything that had happened.

_What was that yesterday?_ She thought as she twirled a stray lock of hair around one of her fingers. The image came to mind of her flying through the air in that pink cheerleader outfit. _Was that really even me?_

"Maybe it was a dream." She said aloud.

"It wasn't a dream!" A tiny voice behind her exclaimed. Amu, who wasn't expecting that, let in a sharp intake of breath. The tiny creature then flew above her head. "Your Character Transformation was cool! You were all like **jump**," She then imitated a jumping action in mid-air. "and then it was like **ta-da**!" Ran spread her arms out and waved them as she exclaimed "**ta-da**". "It was awesome! Right, Amu-chan?" She floated back over her bearer's shoulder as she said that.

Although she had a smile on her face for half a second, Amu's expression quickly changed to one of defiance.

"But what happened yesterday was your fault." She said, the memory of her confession in front of the entire school still in the forefront of her mind. She then looked like she was about to have a tantrum more befitting of a toddler than a ten-year-old girl. "The prince rejected me in front of everyone!" She whined. "What should I do?"

"Don't worry!" Ran said, summoning her pair of pink pom-poms out of nowhere. "If at first you don't succ-" She cheered before Amu cut her off.

"Shut up!" Amu said, not wanting to hear any of it. "Being able to tell someone how I feel in front of so many people isn't me after all."

With that, Ran decided to leave Amu alone for a bit. A sad expression crossing her face as she floated over to her egg and sat down.

* * *

The bells rang throughout Seiyo Elementary, indicating that a new school day had began. Children began making their way to their classes, chit-chatting with their friends as the did so. Amu, however, nervously stood in front of her classroom door.

No one had asked her or talked to her about what happened yesterday yet, which was good. However, knowing the gossiping nature of her classmates, Amu knew that once she opened that door, all she would hear would be children whispering among one another about how uncool she was.

"I don't want to go into the classroom." Amu muttered to herself. However, she did manage muster up the courage to go in and face her classmates and opened the door. Once she walked in, all eyes were on her. She slowly made her way to her seat next to the window.

_I bet a ton of rumors about me are flying around now; _She thought. _That I'm not who they thought, and how they never realized I'm so uncool._

As soon as she sat down, one of the girls that had told her about the Guardians the day before, Manami, came up to her.

"Hinamori-san." She said as the other girl, Wakana, walked up to join her. Amu looked at them, mentally preparing herself for the blows they were about to deal. "You were amazing yesterday."

"Only you would be able to confess in front of such a crowd!" Wakana fangirled as more girls joined them.

"Yeah!" The group of girls agreed. Amu was taken aback.

"I have a feeling you two could really be compatible!" Manami said.

"I always thought that you were cool and collected," Wakana said. "but I guess you have that side to you, too!"

_Oh,_ Amu thought, a slight blush crossing her cheeks as she slowly began to smile. _I see. I see. I see! _

Just then, the classroom door suddenly rolled open and everyone was shocked to see who was on the other side of it. It was the purple-haired girl from the day before, the Guardian that came to find Tadase. She looked just as beautiful close up as she did from far away. Her long, purple hair tied up in a red ribbon and flowing gracefully in a pony tail down her back and her copper colored eyes gave off a shimmer that screamed elegance and refined beauty.

"Excuse me." She said politely as she stepped into the room. Immediately everyone went into fangirl/fanboy mode.

"The Guardians' Queen's Chair:" One girl said. "Nadeshiko Fujisaki-sama."

"She's so wonderful." Another girl said. "The royal cape suits her perfectly."

"But why is she here in the Star Class?" A third girl wondered aloud instead of going up to Nadeshiko and asking her herself.

Nadeshiko made her way across the class and stopped in front of Amu's desk. Amu immediately stood up, seeing as apparently Guardians garnered as much respect as teachers.

"You're Amu Hinamori-san, correct?" Nadeshiko said.

"Yes..." Amu said, unsure of what the Queen's Chair Guardian wanted from her. Nadeshiko then pulled out a letter from her cape pocket and held it out to Amu. It looked like an ordinary envelope except for the fact that it had a large rose-shaped seal holding it shut.

"We'll be waiting for you in the Royal Garden after school today." She said.

"The Royal Garden?" Amu questioned as she took the envelope in her hands and held it closer to her face in order to examine it more closely. Nadeshiko then stepped closer to Amu so her lips were right by her ear.

"I also bring a message from Hotori-kun:" Nadeshiko whispered. "'I'll tell you more about the eggs.'" Nadeshiko then turned and walked off before Amu had a chance to process the message. "Well then, I'll see you after school." She called as she walked out of the classroom. Amu just stood there, shocked.

Once Nadeshiko was gone, the group of girls quickly re-converged around Amu.

"That's amazing, Hinamori-san!" Manami exclaimed. "You've been invited to a tea party in the Royal Garden."

"A tea party?" Amu questioned.

"Yeah," Wakana said. "that's an invitation to one!" Well, duh.

Amu then stared at the letter wide-eyed.

* * *

About an hour later, everyone in the Fourth Grade Star Class had changed into their gym clothes and were now taking turns jumping over a bar and falling flat on their backs. Everyone watched in amazement as each and every one of their classmates did a rather basic exercise. (I swear to god, these kids are too easily impressed.) Well, that was everyone except Amu.

Amu was busy staring at her knees with a worried expression on her face.

_A tea party in the Royal Garden?_ She thought to herself. _Well, I guess I do have to return something._ Oh yes, Amu did indeed have something that she needed to return. She still had the lock I had stolen the day before. Tadase had told her to hold on to it, however she still felt wrong keeping it and wanted to give it back. _Nothing I can do about it._

The worried expression on Amu's faced then turned into a small, excited smile.

_I'll get to see the Prince again, at least._

Before she could get herself too excited though, a small voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hey," Ran said, floating up to Amu. "what's a tea party?" Amu was shocked by this and immediately grabbed the tiny creature and turned so hopefully no one would see her.

"You idiot!" Amu whisper-yelled. "I told you not to come out!"

"I-It's o-okay." Ran said as she struggled to get out of Amu's grasp. When she finally did manage to pop out of Amu's hands, she floated in front of Amu's classmates and began to do some sort of cheer routine in front of them. Amu initially panicked, but then quickly realized that none of her classmates could see what the tiny creature was doing in front of them. "See," Ran said, turning back to Amu. "I told you it'd be fine. Regular people can't see Guardian Characters."

"Is that so?" Amu said exasperatedly.

"Ah!" Someone shouted. Everyone immediately turned their gazes back over to where the second graders had gathered around the horizontal bars. There, they saw one boy rubbing his butt on the ground.

"The second graders are doing the horizontal bar?" Manami questioned.

"I'm not good at it, either." Wakana lamented.

Over by the horizontal bar, one of the gym teachers went over to the boy.

"Are you okay, Suzuki?" He asked the boy.

"Y-yeah." Suzuki (Who oddly enough just happened to be the boy Amu saved in the alley way two days earlier.) responded. (Also, just to note here, I have no idea if that kid has any relation to Akiko's boyfriend. He might, he might not. Suzuki is a fairly common surname in Japan and to be honest I've never bothered to ask.)

The teacher then got up and turned to the class, seemingly frustrated.

"Would anyone like to demonstrate to Suzuki how to rotate backwards on the bar?" He asked. No one in the class volunteered. He then turned over in the direction of the fourth grade class. "Hey, fourth graders, could I trouble one of you?"

Manami and Wakana then turned to Amu.

"Hinamori-san," Manami said. "what about you?"

"Yeah," Wakana said. "you seem like you'd be good at anything."

_You've got it all wrong! I'm terrible at the horizontal bar! _Although she was objecting in her mind, Amu didn't really outwardly show it. Maybe if she had more, Ran wouldn't have taken it as the go ahead for a character change.

"Go for it, Amu-chan!" Ran said. The red X-shaped clip that was holding Amu's hair in a side ponytail then turned into a heart-shaped one.

"Okay," Amu sprung up and said, more chipper than usual. "I'll do it!" Inside her mind, Amu was taken aback by what she was saying and doing.

"Hinamori-senpai?" Suzuki said in shock. I don't think he expected Amu to do something to help him twice in one week.

Amu then found herself madly charging towards the highest of the bars.

_My body's moving on it's own!_

Amu then grabbed the bar and let the momentum from her charge throw her forwards around the bar. (So technically she was rotating forwards on the bar, but I think everyone was just too shocked to care.) She rotated at a high speed a few times, which only made her panic internally more. In fact, I think she was able to break through the character change at some point and shouted "Someone help me!".

Meanwhile, by her school bag, Ran cheered her on. However, unbeknownst to Ran, someone else was observing the scene through a crack in her egg.

Amu let go of the bar, did a spinning flip in the air, and stuck the dismount perfectly. All of the students in both the Second and Fourth Grade Star Classes cheered and the gym teacher just stood there in shock.

"I thought I said backwards." The gym teacher said. Oh, so someone did notice.

Amu just stood as still as possible while the world spun around her. Suzuki seemed just as impressed as the other kids, however that was quickly replaced with a look of sadness.

* * *

"Ran!" Amu shouted as she attempted to grab the Guardian Character. However, she dodged all of Amu's attempts.

It was now after gym class. Amu had changed back into her normal school uniform and changed her hairstyle so it was back to being down and only held back by a pair of X-shaped barrettes. Before class had started, she excused herself to the bathroom so that she could have a talk with the Guardian Character. They were now having it out in a bathroom stall.

"Now I'm pissed!" Amu shouted. "I'll flush you down the toilet so hard, you'll never do something like that again!"

Ran backed up so that she was high enough to be out of Amu's reach.

"Everyone liked it," Ran argued. "so who cares!"

"I do!" Amu exclaimed. "You can't go around changing people's personalities and rewriting who they are! It'd bug them!"

"Amu-chan." Ran said, hurt.

Amu turned away. Little did she know, a little blue egg had rolled out of her bag and heard everything. Hurt, the Guardian Character inside the egg closed the crack, rolled out of the stall and bounced away.

"Well," Amu said. "whatever. If you understand, get in the bag."

Ran, defeated, floated towards Amu's bag. Once she looked inside of it, though, she was shocked.

"We've got trouble, Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed as she floated to be eye-level with Amu. "The Blue Egg is gone!" Amu looked down into her bag and saw her books, miscellaneous pieces of paper, the Green Egg, the lock she had to return to Tadase, and the face cloth the later two objects were sitting on.

"No way." Amu said.

"Maybe you dropped it somewhere." Ran said, panicked. "We've gotta go look."

"But my next class is about to start." Amu said.

"Then after school!" Ran said.

"After school?" Amu said, her thoughts immediately drifting to the tea party.

_We'll be wating for you in the Royal Garden after school today. _Amu could hear Nadeshiko's voice saying in her head.

"I would have to miss the tea party." Amu said sadly.

"Amu-chan?" Ran said.

"I've had enough." Amu said, hiding her eyes under her bangs. "There's nothing good about you Guardian Characters. Actually, you guys are nothing but trouble."

"Amu-chan," Ran began to argue. "that's no-"

"Anyway," Amu said, cutting her off. "once I find the Blue Egg, it's good-bye. I'd like you all to leave." Amu then turned and walked out of the stall, leaving behind a forlorn Ran.

* * *

_I am glad I slept 'till noon. _I thought to myself as I woke up on Sarah's spare bed. Normally, I can barely get even a few hours of sleep because I wake up screaming from a nightmare. However, I'm pretty sure that since I forced myself to stay awake for more than a full twenty-four hours, I was able to get at least a good nine hour's sleep before waking up.

I sat up and looked around the room. Sarah wasn't there, so I assumed she went to class. Either that, or she vacated the premises before the school realized she was skipping (again) and went looking for her. However, I was convinced that the former theory was true once I saw a paper plate with a pair of powdered doughnuts on Sarah's desk with a note on top of them. I figured that Sarah must have gotten them from the main dining hall and then went to class just in case a teacher saw her there. Sure enough, when I read the note she left, I found this to be true.

went 2 go shoppin w/ mai granma shagged some dounuts from da dinin hall will hang out l8r.

-Sarah

I just shrugged, took the paper plate, sat back down on the bed, and bit into one of the doughnuts.

I had known Sarah for about two years at that point. I met her when I was nine and she was fifteen. Yes, I know that's kind of a big age difference for friends. The thing is, Sarah kind of didn't really know my real age. I pretty much told her I was the same age she was. Why? I... I didn't think she'd let me drink if she knew how young I was... Yeah... In addition to being an eleven-year-old assassin, I was also an eleven-year-old alcoholic. I know it's probably wrong to do this, but please place all the blame for this on my parents.

The series of events in which we met are kind of complicated. In fact, it could be a story all on it's own. Just know for now that it involves my brother making terrible decisions, me getting myself banned from one of the nicest restaurants in town, and Cool W**h**ip.

Anyways once Sarah and I met and got to talking, we discovered that we happened to have a lot in common. We both like beating the snot out of people who deserve it, we both have siblings we're very protective over, we both have absentee parents, we like the same kind of music, movies, TV shows, ect. So yeah, we kind of became friends very quickly.

I was licking my fingers of the remaining powder from the doughnuts when I got a text on my phone.

You're needed at HQ

I didn't need to see who it was from to know what that meant. I quickly left a note for Sarah saying that I had to go to work and would come to hang out when I was done and then charged out the door. I knew she would understand.

* * *

It was early afternoon and the members of the Fourth Grade Class were in art class. Today, their assignment was to sketch a portrait of the person they were paired up with. Many of the students chatted while their pencils scratched away at the paper. One student, however felt the time was better spent giving a boisterous ego-fulled speech.

"A carnival overflowing with beauty;" Sayaa said. "that's what the arts are about!" She then posed in a manner that she felt was attractive. "Hinamori-san," She said to the pink-haired girl she was paired up with. "if you do not elegantly sketch my, Sayaa Yamabuki's, exquisite visage, I will **never **forgive you."

"R-right." Amu said. She looked down at her paper and almost cringed at what she saw. The eyes were uneven, the nose was misshapen as were the lips, the face was just a block shape, and Amu clearly didn't know how to draw curly hair. (If it's any consolation, though, I don't either.)

_I guess I can't show her this. _Amu thought.

"What's wrong?" Sayaa asked as she saw the distasteful look on Amu's face.

"Nothing." Amu falsely assured.

_I just suck at art._

_Then why don't you change?_ A voice in Amu's head asked. Amu's eyes flew open in shock. The voice didn't sound like Ran's. It sounded lower and more calm than her's. _From a girl who can't draw well to a girl who can draw anything! Character Change!_

All of a sudden, the red X-shaped clips turned into blue spade-shaped ones. Amu then turned to a clean page in the sketchbook and began manically scratching away at the paper. (Screaming all the while, but no one seemed to notice.)

When her hands stopped moving on their own, Amu looked at her handiwork, astonished. The lines on the paper looked like they could not have been drawn by her. It was like a photograph. She got every minute detail correct; from the way each and every single strand of hair fell to the shading and the way the shadows fell. It was magnificent; a masterpiece, to say the least.

Sayaa gave Amu a look that said "Well? Are you going to show me it or what?" and, having no other options, Amu turned the sketch book around and showed her the portrait. Sayaa's eyes went wide and snatched the sketch book out of Amu's hands.

"I-Is this me?" She asked in astonishment.

Quickly, other kids gathered around and began to admire the sketch along with Sayaa. Amu used this as an opportunity to go off to the side and have a conversation with Ran.

"Ran," Amu pretty much snapped. "was that you again?"

"No!" Ran said, waving her pom poms around frantically. "I'm only good at sports."

"Then why did I..." Amu said, her gaze trailing towards the window. That's when she saw it. A small creature with dark blue hair and eyes wearing a lighter colored blue hat and shirt, a dark blue vest and shorts, black boots, and a light blue messenger bag. It was sketching away in a sketch pad, much like Amu and the rest of her class was doing moments earlier. The thing that stuck out the most, though was the fact that she had a blue spade clipped to her hat. Amu realized who it was almost immediately.

"There it is!" Both Ran and Amu exclaimed at the same time. Although her classmates didn't seem to hear her, the Guardian Character definitely did and took off. Amu quickly followed in pursuit.

"I-I'm going to the restroom!" Amu called to her teacher as she took off, not caring whether she got permission or not.

* * *

The Blue Guardian Character swung around a corner and turned right. It was trying to lose it's two pursuers, but unfortunately they were not going to let that happen.

"Amu-chan," Ran said to Amu as they ran. "she's..."

"I know." Amu said. "She's the Second Guardian Character, right?"

The Blue Guardian Character looked back at her pursuers and saw they were gaining on her, so she picked up speed, fast.

"Wait!" Amu called out, increasing speed as well.

Amu and Ran made several attempts to grab the small blue creature, but they all failed. The Blue Guardian Character was faster than she looked and all of their attempts ended with them flubbing on the ground. Eventually, they were all out of breath and came to a stop.

"Why are you running away?" Ran asked the Blue Guardian Character as Amu breathed heavily behind her. Being an athletic Guardian Character, she didn't need to take that much time to catch her breath. "You're Amu-chan's Guardian Character, you know!"

The Blue Guardian Character, that had her back to them as she attempted to fly away again, slowly turned around to face them. She had a somber expression on her face.

"I'm Miki," The Guardian Character said. "someone Amu-chan wants to be. But she's still uncertain and hesitating. If Amu-chan doesn't believe in me, I'll disappear soon."

"Disappear?" Amu repeated. "No way."

"It's true." Ran said. She floated up to Miki and looked at Amu with a heartbreaking expression. "If you don't believe in us, we'll disappear."

Amu looked shocked. She couldn't believe it. If someone stopped believing in you, you'd cease to exist. That... That was kind of a scary thought. Living like that... It must be terrifying. (Especially if you're like me and you fear the idea of the end of consciousnesses.)

"That picture," Ran continued on. "what you did on the bar, were things you have the power to do. It's your inner potential to be whatever you wish to be. So please, you just have to believe in us!"

Amu looked down at the ground, processing this new information. Basically, if she stopped believing in them, they'd die. That... That's a terrifying thought for a ten-year-old. Although she was quite annoyed by them meddling in her life, she had to admit she didn't actually hate them. Well, at least not enough to want them dead. She kept her eyes on the ground as she came to her decision and watched as it darkened as the sun went behind a cloud.

"I don't really understand Guardian Characters," Amu said. "and you even get in the way. But..." The light from the sun slowly returned as the cloud continued in it's journey across the sky. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to believe in you, just a bit."

Miki looked slightly stunned while Ran's face broke out into a huge grin.

"Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed as she flew around Amu.

"Hey," Amu said stubbornly, crossing her arms. "I said just a bit!" A small grin appeared upon Miki's face. "You're coming, too." Amu said to Miki, still with that voice of stubbornness and fake annoyance. Miki made a sound of surprise. "It's going to look like I was in the bathroom forever. I don't want any misunderstandings."

"Okay!" Miki said happily as she floated over to join them.

Amu, Ran, and Miki then began to walk back to class together, not knowing that someone was watching them from the shadows.

"Looks like Seiyo Academy is a pretty fun place."

* * *

Ikuto laid on his back, watching the clouds go by. He was once again skipping school. Well, technically he didn't skip the whole day. He stayed long enough to be able to snag some food from friends and then bailed once lunch was over. Not having any place better to be, he settled for watching clouds in the park. His Guardian Character, Yoru, sat on top of his violin case, which was laid beside him.

Although, Ikuto wasn't really focused on the clouds. What he was focused on was what happened yesterday; the girl he met who had three Guardian Eggs and used a Chara Nari to jump into the sky. Something about her... Intrigued him...

"The Humpty Lock responded to her." He said out of the blue. Yoru seemed to know what he was talking about immediately, though.

"Ikuto," Yoru said. "who is that Amu girl, anyway? I've never heard of someone having three Guardian Eggs-nya. Maybe she's even carrying the Embryo-nya."

"It's possible." He said, continuing to keep his eyes on the sky.

* * *

The rest of the day had flown by quickly and before Amu knew it, the school day was over. As the rest of the students chatted away with their friends and began making their ways back to their respective homes, Amu slowly made her way to the greenhouse located behind the school; following the directions that Nadeshiko included in the invite. She had no trouble finding it. Once you know which paths to follow, it's very easy to find.

To be honest, Amu was pretty nervous. She didn't know what they wanted from her (other than to get the Lock back) and the boy she liked (and the same one who rejected her) asked her to come. That would make any ten-year-old girl who didn't have to worry about the possibility of starvation nervous.

"We finally get to have the tea party, Amu-chan." Ran said as they stood in front of the large glass, octagonal-shaped building. Really, it looked like something out of a fairy tale or a Barbie princess play-set. The panes of glass were sealed with this white sealant that looked impossibly clean, the panes of glass domed off at the roof and on top it looked like it had some sort of glass decoration.

Inside various plants and flowers grew. Some were exotic, others were native, but they all had one thing in common: they all looked like a beautiful snatch of life compared to what surrounded it on the outside. It was early October and some of the trees were already beginning to change colors and the temperature was beginning to wind down. The dread of the oncoming winter was palpable in the air outside but if you walked in, it would be perpetual summer on the inside. It's every person living in a humid continental climate's dream.

The beauty of the structure, however, seemed only to intimidate Amu more.

"Yeah." She said.

_But I'm so nervous. _She thought. Despite her nervousness, however, she eventually mustered up the courage to step through the door.

"Excuse me." She said, nervously polite. She could see figures standing on what looked to be a raised platform off on the other side of the garden. Since - as far as she could tell - no one made a move towards her, she figured it was okay to let herself in.

She followed the little cement-tiled pathway to the other side of the greenhouse. On the way there, she passed various types of flora. She crossed under an archway that had winding vines crawling up it and found herself standing in front of a fountain that was surrounded by flowers. Behind it was a small slope that had a staircase built in. At the top of both the slope and the staircase was a completely white patio set that was underneath a giant, white, plastic awning. There, the Guardians stood.

"Wow." Amu said under her breath in amazement.

"Hello, Hinamori-san." Tadase said. "Welcome to the Royal Garden."

Amu then took in the site of the Guardians. To the right stood Nadeshiko and Tadase. They both looked exactly the same as the last time she saw them. The other two, however, Amu didn't recognize. If they were at the assembly the day before, she hadn't taken note of them. The one standing off to the far left was a boy. He had tanned skin, brown hair, and emerald eyes. It seemed he didn't really bother with wearing a tie and left his shirt un-tucked. He also wore sneakers instead of the recommended dress shoes. The one standing between him and Nadeshiko was a girl. She had strawberry blonde hair that was tied into pigtails by two very large red bows and chocolate brown eyes. She had another rather large red bow tied to the front of her Guardian's cape and wore thigh-high socks and red Mary-Janes on her feet. Amu noticed immediately that each of the Guardians had a Guardian Character floating next to them.

_Why do all of the Guardians have Guardian Characters?_

Moments later, Amu and the Guardians settled around the patio table and Nadeshiko began pouring tea.

"Today we'll be having maca tea." Nadeshiko said as she poured Amu a cup. "I've also baked some scones."

"Yay!" The strawberry blonde jumped up and exclaimed, startling Amu. "I love Nadeshiko's scones!"

"I guess we should start with introductions." Tadase said from across the table, sitting with his elbows on the table and fingers entwined. Amu looked at him, still feeling nervous. "The Guardians' King's Chair: Tadase Hotori. I'm in the fourth grade, like you. My Guardian Character's name is Kiseki." As if on cue, a Guardian Character with soft purple hair and blue eyes floated over to Tadase. He wore a small gold crown, a red robe lined with (probably faux) fur, a light blue shirt with puffy sleeves, a dark blue vest over it, those old-fashioned puffy pants that you've probably seen those monarchs in your history books wearing, white tights and black shoes.

"The Queen's Chair:" Nadeshiko said, still standing and holding the teapot. "Nadeshiko Fujisaki. I'm also a fourth-grader. She is Temari," Once again on cue, a Guardian Character floated up to take her place beside her bearer. This one had purplie-pink hair and eyes and wore a light pink kimono with dark pink flowers on it. She also had a pair of light pink flowers sitting at the base of her pony tail. She gave a little wink to Amu and her Guardian Characters.

"The Ace's Chair:" The strawberry blonde exclaimed. "Yaya Yuiki, I'm in the thrid grade. I like anything and everything cute! This is Pepe-chan." She said, gesturing to the Guardian Character that just floated over. This one had strawberry blonde hair tied in pigtails like Yaya, but her eyes were blue. She wore a pink hat with bunny-ears that had a red bow attached to it, pink feetie pajamas, and a frilly white bib. She also seemed to have a pacifier in her mouth. "Nice to meet you!"

"The Jack's Chair:" The brunette said. "Kukai Soma. I'm a sixth grader. I'm also the captain of the soccer team. This is Daichi." He said, pointing his thumb at the Guardian Character that appeared beside him. This Guardian Character had mint green hair and brown eyes. He wore a headband with a star clipped to it, a yellow jersey, white shorts and yellow and white sneakers.

Amu immediately felt the need to introduce herself and bolted up from her chair.

"U-um," She stuttered. "I am..."

"We know everything about you, Amu Hinamori-san." Nadeshiko said.

"Eh?" Amu said, surprised.

"You're actually shy," Yaya said. "how cute!"

"We also know that you're bad with scary stories." Kukai said matter-of-factly.

"H-How do you know about that?" Amu exclaimed, horrified at the thought of her privacy being invaded.

"It's the Guardians' responsibility to look after the student's personal information." Nadeshiko said like it was no big deal. I think the law would disagree with that. Kukai and Yaya, however, nodded their heads in agreement with her.

"Isn't that the same as invading their privacy?" Amu protested, furious. Well, at least she has a brain. Nadeshiko just giggled.

"And we also know your Guardian Characters," She said. "Ran and Miki."

Amu seemingly got over her embarrassment and fury rather quickly at the mention of Guardian Characters. She realized that now she could get the answers to her questions.

"What are Guardian Characters, anyway?" She asked. Tadase then walked up to her and handed her a book.

"Look at this." He said.

"A picture book?" She questioned. The cover had the kanji for "Kokoro no Tamago" or "The Heart's Egg" on it and a picture of a sad-looking anthropomorphous egg. She opened the book and read the story.

Every child has an egg within their soul.

This heart's egg can't be seen with one's eyes.

But as the child grows up, it vanishes.

As she came to the last page, she found it was torn out.

"Huh?" She said. "A page was torn out."

"This book was written by the Guardians' Founding King." Tadase explained. "The heart's egg. Don't you think that sound familiar?" Amu almost immediately came to the conclusion that the book was talking about Guardian Eggs.

"Yep," Yaya said upon seeing the realization on Amu's face. "there's an egg in every kid's heart. But sometimes the egg is strange, and another you comes out of it."

"That's basically what Guardian Characters are." Kukai said.

"Another me?" Amu repeated.

"We Guardians are all Character Bearers," Tadase explained. "and we've inherited these positions generation after generation. That's why, Amu Hinamori-san, we would like you to join the Guardians."

_Join the Guardians? So I'd be with the Prince?_

"The heart's egg usually rests safely inside a person's heart." Tadase continued on. "But at times, the person carrying the egg experiences some type of trauma, and they punish their own heart. When that happens, it becomes an X-Egg."

"An X-Egg?" Amu questioned.

"When that happens," Kukai said. "I'm sure your Chara Nari will be really useful! Yep."

"No one else here can do them, after all." Nadeshiko added.

"I want to see a Chara Nari!" Yaya exclaimed, waving her arms excitedly.

"A Chara Nari?" Amu said, distressed. She took a step back and held up her hands defensively. "That just happened on its own; I don't even know how I did it, myself!" Suddenly she felt someone's eyes on her back and nervously turned around. There she saw Tadase, looking unbelievably beautiful. In fact, Amu could have sworn he was sparkling.

"Will you become a Guardian?" He asked, charmingly. A blush appeared on Amu's face.

"Um..." She said.

"Um?" Ran and Miki repeated, anticipating her answer.

"No!" Amu burst out and said firmly.

Everyone store at her with a look of shock.

"Why not?" Yaya asked, jumping in Amu's face. "As a Guardian, you'd get a whole bunch of special privileges!"

"B-because I don't really want to wear the Royal Cape." Amu said weakly. Although, technically that was on her list of concerns, it wasn't the biggest one. It was just the first thing that came to mind when trying to come up with a defense.

"The cape?" Kukai repeated in slight confusion.

"That's it?" Nadeshiko said.

"It's important!" Amu exclaimed, deciding to roll with this defense. "No matter how you look at it, it goes against my fashion philosophy and sense of style!"

Kukai then began pointing and laughing at her, though not in a mean way.

"What's up with this girl?" He asked through his laughter. "She's hilarious. You pass."

"I told you I wasn't joining!" Amu snapped.

"No matter what?" Tadase said, sounding sad but it was pretty clear from the sound of his voice that he was acting. He also gave Amu those hurt puppy dog eyes. Amu's blush darkened.

Before she was either forced to agree or said something that would only make the situation worse, Amu began to make a break for the door.

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed to the four people standing by the table. Ran and Miki trailed after her, shouting her name. The four Guardians stood there for a few seconds in silence, before Kukai burst out laughing again.

"She really is great!" He said through his laughter.

* * *

Amu ended up back by the sports fields where her class had been doing exercises earlier that day. She had initially stopped to catch her breath, but that had quickly turned into lying depressed on a bench.

"Was it really okay to turn them down?" Ran asked.

"It's fine." Amu said, with a mixture of emotions. "I just started getting friendly with the rest of my class. If I joined the Guardians I'd obviously start drifting away from them again." She then sprung up, seeming more motivated. "I'm fine with being normal!" She insisted. "Normal is good!"

"You're back to being stubborn again." Ran pointed out.

"You finally had a chance to get in good with the Prince, though." Miki said. Ran had filled Miki in on the details of the day before while Amu was in class, including her crush on Tadase.

"Well," Amu said stubbornly while blushing. "it's all a misunderstanding. There's no way I have some sort of special power." The moment she said that, she remembered something.

"What's wrong?" Ran asked.

"Crap," Amu said, opening up her hand and seeing the Lock. She was holding it in her hand the entire time she was with the Guardians. She had full intentions on giving it back. "I forgot to give this back. What should I do?"

Just then, Amu heard someone give out a yelp of pain. She turned in the direction of the horizontal bars and saw the boy from earlier, Suzuki, once again sitting on the ground and rubbing his butt. He then stood up and attempted to do a backwards flip on the bar again. Once again, he was unsuccessful.

"It's that boy." Amu said.

"He's trying hard, isn't he?" Ran said.

Having heard her voice, he tilted his head back to look at her. He was sitting on the ground while his hands still held the bar when she approached.

"Ah, Hinamori-senpai." He said.

Just then, his hands let go of the bar and he fell on his back, hard.

Amu stood, leaning with her arms folded across the bar. Suzuki sat on the ground one bar-length away from her, hugging his knees and staring at the ground.

"You saw me doing something embarrassing." He said. "I'm sorry, Hinamori-senpai."

"You don't really need to apologize." Amu said. Suzuk sighed.

"I don't have the right to be a fan of the 'cool and spicy' Hinamori-senpai the way I am," He said. "do I?"

"Huh?" Amu said. "What are you saying."

"Well," He said. "I have zero athletic ability. I'm clumsy, too, and to make matters worse, people say I act like an old man for my age."

Amu just stood there, unsure of how to respond. Unbeknownst to her, a figure was watching them from atop the school roof.

"I don't think my dream will come true, anyway." Suzuki continued on.

"You have a dream?" Amu said. "What kind?"

"I want to have the best grades in the school." He said. "And someday, I'd like to be the president of an IT company, or a charismatic programmer. But..."

"But?" Amu said as the wind began to blow her hair about.

"It's obvious that'll never happen." He said.

All of a sudden, something happened. Amu couldn't explain it, but Suzuki just froze up and at the same time the wind kicked up to extreme speeds. Amu glanced up at the sky and caught sight of a black orb floating directly above Suzuki's head.

"What is that?" Amu said and Ran and Miki floated to her side.

"Is that..." Ran trailed off.

"Maybe it's an..." Miki trailed off as well.

"An X-Egg!" Amu exclaimed, inadvertently finishing Miki and Ran's sentences as a white X appeared on the egg. "No way!"

Suzuki stood up and it was obvious that he had no control over his own body due to the jerky way his limbs moved as he did so. As soon as he got himself into a stable standing position, he looked down at the ground with soulless eyes.

"I'm worthless." He said almost emotionless. "Hinamori-senpai, I'm sure you think I'm pathetic, too." As he said that, the X-Egg floated down so that way it was directly in front of him.

"I don't!" Amu exclaimed.

"Yes you do!" Suzuki exclaimed.

At the same time, the X-Egg sent a wave of energy directly at them. Amu, Ran, and Miki were able to hold their ground and didn't let the energy knock them away.

"My dream is worthless." Suzuki said, once again emotionless. "Impossible. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible." As he chanted that, his voice seemed to merge with one that was seemingly coming from the egg.

"What's impossible?" Amu asked both the boy and the egg. "You have to believe in yourself, or else your dream will vanish before your eyes!" Miki and Ran burst out into big smiles upon hearing Amu say that. "It's way too for you to do nothing but give up!"

Just then, the lock began to glow pink in Amu's hand. Amu opened her hand up to look at it. When she did, it glowed so bright it could be seen from miles away.

* * *

The Guardians were just walking out of the Royal Garden when they saw the light emanating from the outdoor gym area back behind the school.

"What's that?" Kukai said when he noticed the light, causing the other Guardians to stop.

"That light!" Tadase said. "It couldn't be!" He then bolted off in the direction of the light.

"Hey, Tadase!" Kukai called after him.

* * *

Before Amu could react to anything, she felt words once again form in the back of her mind and found herself saying them before she knew it.

"My own heart:" She said. "Unlock!"

And with those words, Amu once again Chara Naried into Amulet Heart. She wore the exact same thing she did yesterday; the exact same pink cheer leading outfit with the frills and the ribbons and the light pink visor with the big, red heart attached to it. Her hair even grew to the exact same length it grew to the day before and tied itself up in a side ponytail.

"Chara Nari:" She and Ran said in unison once the whole transformation sequence was done. "Amulet Heart!"

Amu looked down at what she was wearing, stunned.

"No way!" She said. "I transformed again!"

"Wow." Miki said in amazement.

Meanwhile, the Guardians arrived on the scene. They stopped and watched from a pathway near the outdoor gym area.

"Cool!" Yaya exclaimed. "It's a Chara Nari!"

The X-Egg, meanwhile, finally made another move to attack.

"Impossible!" The egg called out as it floated higher in the air once again. And, once again, it sent a burst of energy towards Amu. She was still able to hold her ground against it, though.

"Amu-chan," Ran said. "it's okay! We can do it!"

"Do it?" Amu said. "but..."

"Don't you feel it?" Ran asked. "The power is getting stronger!"

Amu looked down at her chest and saw that the Lock was glowing brightly from where it was attached to her zipper.

"It's true." She said to herself. "The power's..." She then felt a new wave of determination come over her and before she knew it, words were forming on the tip of her tongue and her body was moving on it's own again.

Amu made a heart-shape with her fingers and held it up to the Lock.

"Negative Heart:" She said. "Lock On!" All of a sudden, a beam of energy came out of the lock, passed through her fingers, and went straight for the X-Egg. She finished the attack by saying "Open Heart!". The X-Egg gave out one last cry of "Impossible!" before the X faded away and the egg changed to it's normal white color. Once it was completely purified, it floated back into Suzuki.

"The X-Egg went back to normal." Tadase said in amazement.

Meanwhile as Amu stood there in shock, Ran popped out of Amu's body causing the transformation to be let go and Amu to go back to looking like she normally did.

"That was great, Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed.

"What was that?" Amu said in both panic and shock. "Something came out of my hands and... This is not happening!"

"But it was pretty cool." Miki floated over and said. That caused Amu to stop freaking out and she stubbornly looked away, trying to keep herself from smiling.

The figure on the roof turned away and walked off.

A few seconds later, Suzuki came to.

"Huh," He said. "why am I... Hinamori-senpai."

"You know," Amu said with her back to him. "I'm not so different from you." Suzuki made a noise of confusion and Amu turned around and snapped at him. "I get freaked out all the time and I'm really indecisive, so I wouldn't think for one second that you're worthless!"

"Hinamori-senpai." He said, taking in everything that she said. Then stars appeared in his eyes and tears of joy started streaming down his face. "I'm moved! I'm inspired!" He said excitedly. "I definitely just felt your spicy power!"

Amu... Wasn't quite sure how to react... He then sprung up, newly invigorated and seemingly on fire.

"I suddenly feel full of energy now!" He exclaimed. "I'll show you I can be top of the class, an IT president **and **a charismatic programmer! No, more than that, more than anything else, I want to remain your number one fan!" He then ran over to Amu, looking like he was about to give her a hug, before Amu, screaming, pushed him into the sky. (Don't ask me how that happened.)

Suzuki didn't seem to mind that his idol had just pushed him into the sky. In fact, he was still kind of fanboying over her.

"Farewell, senpai!" He shouted as he spun through the sky. "Have a nice day. My name is Suzu-" He disappeared - possibly into outer space - before he could finish that sentence.

"Oh crap." Amu said once he disappeared into the unknown. "I overdid it." Miki store off at the sky in amazement and Ran just sweat dropped.

"Hey, Hinamori!" Kukai called from the path. Amu turned and saw them all there.

"T-the Guardians." She said in shock. "Were you watching?"

"Of course." Kukai said, giving her a thumbs up.

"Cool Chara Nari!" Yaya called out.

"Hinamori-san," Tadase said. "you really are..."

"N-no!" Amu said, blush spreading across her face and waving her arms in front of her. "It was just a coincidence! You've got it all wrong! That wasn't me at all!"

"Think she'll leave?" Ran said to Miki.

"She'll leave." Miki said.

Like they said, Amu took off again. Once again she screamed "I'm sorry!" as she took off. Miki and Ran trailed behind her cheering "She left! She left!".

"See you next time!" Yaya called out, waving goodbye to them.

"I guess her coming was unexpected." Kukai said.

"What will you do, Fujisaki-san." Tadase asked Nadeshiko.

"You shouldn't have to ask." Nadeshiko turned to him and said. "A Guardian wouldn't leave things like this." She assured, then gave him a wink.

* * *

As I walked to the door to Director Hoshina's office, all I could hear was shouting.

"YOU'RE A FUCKING BASTARD, KAZUYOMI!" I heard a man who clearly wasn't a native Japanese speaker shout. I mean, it wasn't that he was saying words incorrectly, it's just that you could tell by the way he talked that he was born in an English-speaking country. "YOU KNEW THOSE OPPERATIONS WERE TAKING PLACE, AND YET YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP THEM!"

"Welcome to the Business World, Thompson-san." I heard the Director say. He wasn't shouting like Thompson was, but he was using that ominous voice of his. The one you **don't **want to hear. "It isn't like we're the only ones who do this. Nike, Microsoft, General Motors, Ford, Boeing, Coca-Cola, and Kellogg's all use similar practices and so do thousands more. It's nothing go to the press about. In fact, I think you might even **regret** going to the press about this."

_Oh god. _I thought as I listened in. I had a horrible feeling growing in my stomach.

"YEAH," Thompson shouted. "THEY PROFIT OFF OF NON-DOMESTIC LABOR, BUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS TAKING IT TO THE EXTREME! I'M GOING TO THE PRESS WITH THIS, AND DAMN THE CONSEQUENCES!"

And with that, he stormed out. I watched as an older man with grey hair marched straight past me and towards the elevators. After a moment or two of standing there, shell shocked, I slowly gathered the courage to enter the room. There I saw the Director standing, looking out the window with his back to me.

"Um," I said. "you wanted to see me?"

"Yes." The Director said, not turning around. "There's something I want you to take care of."

* * *

"Today was so much fun!" She exclaimed as she floated around Amu's room. Amu was lying back on the bed, holding a pillow. "It's so awesome doing a Chara Nari with you! Right?"

"N-not really." Amu said.

"You're not cute at all." Miki floated over and said.

"Neither are you." Amu shot back.

"Stubborn." Miki said.

"Weirdo." Amu said. Miki then stuck out her tongue at her. "Hey!" Amu shouted as Miki began to fly off. "Hold up!"

"I'm over here!" Miki called from the other side of the room. Ran, ginning widely, joined her.

"Miki!" Amu shouted. Miki laughed.

"Amu-chan," Ran called out. "over here!"

"You, too?" Ran said. Amu spent the next few minutes chasing Ran and Miki around the room. They all threw non-hurtful insults and playfully taunted each other as they did so.

_I may be stubborn, cynical, and a scaredy-cat, _Amu thought. _but I guess that's not such a bad thing._

Sitting on a small pillow on Amu's shelf, the Green Egg sat. Only one more egg to go. Who knew what kind of character was inside?

* * *

**Yay! I'm updating! It's been what? Three months since I've updated this? Yeah, sorry about that. I'm also sorry for what I'm about to say, too. **

**I'm taking the month of August off from fanfiction. Mostly because I usually become anxious and depressed during this time and I'd rather just not deal with this site. I'll still be writing, though. It's just that anything I finish won't be published until September. Also, once I finish the story I'm currently reading, I'm not going to be reading anything else on this site unless it's an update to a fic I've been following or it's something a friend of mine sent me. You can still reach me on Twitter, DeviantART, and Tumblr, though if you want to get into contact with me.**

**Also, I've finally uploaded Hi no Nami: Black Diamond. It's on my profile if you want to check it out.**

**And finally, if you're not reading this at some point in the future where I have all of the chapters fixed, be warned that from this point on a lot of the chapters are cringe-worthy. Please read with caution, thank you.**

* * *

**This chapter was uploaded to fanfiction on 8/1/15.**


	5. In Your Eyes

**EN GARDE FUCKBOYS!**

**"Amityville" by Eminem Featuring Bizarre**

* * *

The office had green walls and a red carpet. Although there was a chandelier, two floor lamps, and a desk lamp, the room was dimly lit because it was so big. Along one wall there was nothing but bookshelf after bookshelf filled with nothing but legal tomes, books on business ethics, and huge binders with client information. There was a small sitting area near the door, complete with leather couches and a television, which was turned off. A stereo, which was placed just behind one of the couches, was playing the song "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by the Platters at a low volume.

In the center of the room a man at approximately sixty-five years of age sat at his desk contemplating what to do next. His name was Jacob Thompson. He was a graduate of one of America's most prestigious law schools who came to Japan to work as a lawyer for one of the most powerful companies in the world, Easter Incorporated. For nearly forty years he handled the legal side of Easter's international affairs. He found ways around many laws and was pretty much the man who gave Easter the ability to do whatever they wanted in whatever country they wanted to do it in.

However, recently he discovered the consequences of his actions while on a trip with his wife to Indonesia. While talking to someone at a restaurant, he mentioned that he worked for the Easter Corporation in Japan. This comment was overheard by several locals and he was attacked. They called him every foul name in the book; "Bastard", "Fascist", "Slave Master" and worst of all, "Murderer".

It turned out that Easter had built a very large, unsafe factory in Indonesia. They employed thousands of people-including children-to work long hours in a hot, decrepit building making tennis shoes and cheap electronics. Mr. Thompson was horrified by the discovery of that fact, but was more horrified when he returned to Japan and started doing some research. It had turned out that by finding ways around the laws in various countries he had destroyed the lives of thousands, if not millions of people.

This is what led to the argument I had walked in on. After Kazuomi dismissed me, curiosity got the better of me and I began asking around about what had happened. I realize now that was a mistake, because all that made me do was hesitate about what I had been instructed to do; kill him.

I was standing on the roof of Mr. Thompson's office building, looking down into the room through a skylight. My long, dark hair was tied back in a long braid down my back and I was wearing the uniform that Easter made me wear when I was working, which was a black, short-sleeved button-up shirt with a cyan tie around my neck. The shirt was made out of a special material that was thinner, yet stronger than most materials used in things such as bullet-proof vests. I had black shorts on underneath a cyan colored skirt which was made out of a material that stretched, making running in a skirt less difficult. The stockings I was wearing went up to my lower thighs and were made out of the same material as the shirt. The shoes I was wearing were specially designed to have better traction than a truck tire and had a secret weapon installed in the toe. I also had on cyan gloves that did nothing more than keep my fingerprints from getting on anything I touched. Not that it would matter at all. I'd probably break down crying before I left the building and investigators would probably get my DNA through that.

I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, which would be when Mr. Thompson got up from his desk. The skylight was directly over his desk. If I were to go jumping through the window right then and there, not only would he be taken by surprise and likely scream for help before I could stop him, but he'd also have ample opportunity to fight back. I know, you're probably saying "He's sixty-five years old! He's not gonna fight back, and if he does, you're an able-bodied eleven-year-old girl! He should be easy to take down!" but let me tell you, the elderly still have some vigor left in them. I learned that the hard way. Also, I'm not an able-bodied eleven-year-old. I'm short and underweight.

Before coming up with this plan, I did consider the possibility of shooting him with one of my arrows through the skylight, but decided against it because I figured that the skylight wouldn't open wide enough for me to get an arrow to hit where I wanted it to go. I'd break the glass, but anyone with half a brain could figure out why that wouldn't work.

So, I was left with this plan: Wait for him to get up from his desk, slip through the open skylight (I'm fairly certain I can fit.), land on his desk, catch him off guard and shoot him in the eye. Probably not the best plan ever. I can name a hundred different things that could go wrong with that, but it's all I can come up with on the spot.

All of a sudden there was a knock at Mr. Thompson's door.

_Crap_. I thought. _I didn't take someone suddenly showing up into account. I might have to rethink my plan._

"Come in." Mr. Thompson said exasperatedly. A woman, most likely a secretary entered the room.

"Sorry for the intrusion, Thompson-san," The woman said politely. "But someone from the Osaka branch is on the li-"

"Tell them to call back later." He said cutting her off. "In fact, tell that to anyone who calls that isn't that conference call I have scheduled my wife or my son."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." He said.

"Is there anything else you want me to do?" She asked.

"No, that will be all." He said. After that, she nodded and left the room.

Mr. Thompson then leaned over his desk and pressed his hand to his forehead in exasperation. He looked over at a photo on his desk, probably one of his wife or his son, then turned and got up to look out the window behind him. Now is the perfect time to strike.

With my bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, I squeezed through the skylight and landed on his desk with a loud thud. Obviously hearing my landing, Mr. Thompson turned around to see me standing on his desk with an arrow ready to fly. By the time he started to move towards the door and get help, that arrow was lodged in his shoulder. He cried out and started to bolt for the door, so I had no choice but to shoot him in the leg.

The final blow was a shot to the eye. Once I was sure he was dead, I took pictures on my cell phone to show the Director, and left out the window. Once I was safely on the ground, I threw up and started crying.

* * *

I stood quietly by the door as he shuffled through the pictures on my phone.

"And you're sure he's dead?" Director Hoshina said.

"Yes, sir." I said quietly. "Positive."

He continued to stare at the phone, shuffling through the photos with an unreadable expression.

"Good work." He said without meaning it, handing me back my cell phone.

"Thank you." I said as I walked forward to take the phone back. Once the phone was out of his hands, he turned is office chair around so it was facing the giant glass wall behind his desk that faced the Tokyo Skyline. "Um, sir," I said nervously. "About my offer…"

"I'll consider it." He said harshly.

"Okay, thank you." I said quietly as I turned to leave.

* * *

"Move it! Move it! Move it!" A first grader shouted as he and his friend dashed past Amu on the sidewalk.

"Aren't you going a bit too fast?" The first grader's friend shouted as he attempted to keep up.

"We've only got two minutes and forty-eight point three-five seconds before the bell rings!" The first grader shouted in response. His friend let out a noise of surprise and began to pick up the pace. Amu, meanwhile, kept going at the same leisurely pace she had been going at since she left the house.

"Amu-chan," Ran said. "Hurry up! Hurry up! We're going to be late!"

"At this pace," Miki said. "It'll take another four minutes to get to the classroom."

"Come on, Amu-chan!" Ran said, waving her pom poms up and down to stress the importance. Eventually, Amu got fed up with their pestering.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She shouted, thankfully not attracting the attention of anyone nearby. Ran and Miki floated up so they were out of Amu's reach.

"She got mad." Ran said cheerfully.

"Time to run. Time to run." Miki said, not meaning it. Amu let out a sigh.

"It was noisy enough with just Ran," She said. "And now that Miki's hatched…" Her thoughts then drifted to the one egg that still, after a week, had yet to hatch in her bag.

_There's still one egg left._ She thought. _I wonder what type of Guardian Character it'll be._

* * *

It was around lunchtime at Seiyo Elementary and some students were using this time to hang out in the halls and visit friends who were in different classes. Suzuki, however, had a different plan in mind. He was hiding behind a corner, looking down the fourth grade hallway, a small white envelope clutched in his hands. After glancing down the corridor, he quickly jerked back and held the envelope closer to his chest.

"I have to give Hinamori-sempai this fan letter;" He said. "It's full of my feelings for her!" He then turned and looked again and saw Amu coming down the hall. He took a deep breath and stepped out from where he was hiding. "Hinamori-sempai!" He said as he held the letter out to her. "U-Um…"

Before he could say anything else, Manami, Wakana, and another girl from Amu's class knocked him down as they ran over to Amu.

"Hinamori-san!" They said in unison.

"We heard! We heard!" Manami said.

"You really refused to join the Guardians?" Wakana said.

"Only Hinamori-san could do that!" The third girl said.

"You're so cool!" All three of them said in unison.

"H-how do you know that?" Amu asked, confused. Somehow, an entire week had gone by without this coming out. She wondered how it possibly got out and who could have done it.

"It's the talk of the whole school!" The third girl said.

"You know?" All three said in unison. Well, that was helpful.

"I refused because I didn't want to stand out." Amu muttered to herself. "B-But it looks like it might have had the opposite effect."

* * *

As lunch break approached its end, everyone began to return to their seats in their respective classrooms. Amu was sitting at her desk, idly waiting for class to begin.

"I just want to be normal." Amu said. "Why is this happening?" Before she could contemplate it any further, she heard the three girls she was talking with earlier animatedly chatting as they entered the room.

"Guys," Manami said. "I want to buy a new cellphone strap."

"Then why don't we stop by the station?" Wakana said. "I know of a cute shop there."

"Really?" Manami said.

"Yeah?" The third girl said. "What's it like?"

"Well," Wakana said. "It just opened and they're kind of like Claire's but they don't do ear piercing, the stuff they carry seems more unique, and they're less expensive, too. They also carry cellphone cases and other stuff like that."

"Cool!" Manami exclaimed.

* * *

Once school let out, Amu found herself trailing behind the three girls on their way out. It wasn't like she was following them or anything, it just happened to be a coincidence. The girls were still planning their shopping trip and Amu was still listening in on the conversation.

"Can we meet at your house, Manami?" Wakana asked.

"Okay!" Manami said cheerfully. Manami then glanced back for a second, looking at the girl walking behind them. She then turned back to her friends. "Hey, guys, why don't we invite Hinamori-san?" Amu stopped in her tracks.

"Should we?" Wakana said. "I'm not sure that store would suit her cool style."

"I'd feel terrible if I just got laughed at." The third girl said.

"Okay then." Manami said as the three of them continued to walk on. Amu just stood there, dejected. Concerned, Ran and Miki floated over to her.

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Ran asked.

"Nothing." Amu said, wiping the sad look off her face and trying to seem all tough, cool, and uncaring. However, she couldn't change her interior feelings to match the ones she was showing on her exterior.

_I thought I was getting a bit closer to everyone,_ she thought. _But it kind of feels like I've gotten nowhere instead._

"Amu-chan!" Amu almost jumped into the air. The person who said that was directly behind her and she didn't even hear them approach. Amu spun around and fell on to her butt. She looked up to see Nadeshiko's cheerful, smiling face looking down at her.

"Ah, so cute." Nadeshiko said. "You really are a scaredy-cat, aren't you?"

"W-what do you want?" Amu asked, unable to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"I thought we could hang out and become best friends!" Nadeshiko said.

"No matter what you say," Amu said. "this is just a plot to get me to join the Guardians, isn't it?"

"Oh, you knew?" Nadeshiko said.

"I was hoping I didn't." Amu said.

"Nadeshiko," Temari said. "I suppose we'll have to…"

"Right then," Nadeshiko said as she began to rifle through her schoolbag. "Secret Amu-chan Weapon:" She then pulled out a photograph. Amu got up off the ground to get a better look at what it was of. "A picture of Hotori-kun dozing off."

Amu let out a noise of surprise. Although I'm sure she was giddy about the idea of having a picture of her crush dozing off as Eponìne would be about the idea of having a pair of Marius's underwear (Wait, is that even a good comparison?), Amu was definitely suspicious about why Nadeshiko was offering her this.

"Hold on!" She said. "Why are you showing me that?"

"Oh?" Nadeshiko said. "Well, you like Hotori-kun, don't you? I have many more. Some were taken during his private time; others are from his personal profile. And if you join the Guardians, you'll get them all."

Question One: Is Nadeshiko even allowed to have those pictures?

Question Two: Isn't this blackmail or something?

Regardless of those two obvious and pressing questions, Amu couldn't help but feel tempted by Nadeshiko's words and for a second actually seriously considered taking her up on her offer. Lucky for her, Ran and Miki were there to snap her out of it.

"Amu-chan," Ran said. "Don't be duped by her scheme!"

"Have some dignity!" Miki said.

"They're right!" Amu said, coming back to her senses and going back to her kuudere outer character. "Don't think I'm so low I'd get suckered by a bribe!"

"Yeah," Ran said. "We're not that low!"

"Even though she was about to give in." Miki pointed out.

Both Nadeshiko and Temari let out amused giggles.

"You're a nice girl." Nadeshiko said. "I guess I should stop playing tricks and just wish you and Hotori-kun the best."

"Listen," Amu said. "Why do you keep talking about him?"

"We'll be going to his house tomorrow." Nadeshiko said. "Why don't you come with us?"

Amu thought about it for a moment, then went back to being a kuudere.

"B-but…" She said, trying to think of a good excuse. "I can't impose like that all of a sudden."

"This is a rare opportunity." Nadeshiko pointed out. "It will be the perfect chance for you to get ahead of your rivals."

"Y-you have a point." Amu admitted. "That might work out."

"She's getting lured in." Ran and Miki commented in unison. "She's getting lured in."

"If you bring something you've made yourself," Nadeshiko said. "I'm sure it'll score you a lot of points."

"Something I've made?" Amu questioned. For a second, she thought she felt something shift in her bag, but she ignored it. "I could never. I'm terrible at Home Ec stuff. Really bad." So am I. That doesn't stop me from making kick-ass apology cakes. (An apology cake is a cake I give to people that I have wronged. Usually for property damage or for something I said during a fight. If it's a case of property damage, monetary compensation is usually included with the cake.)

"Don't worry," Nadeshiko said. "I'll teach you. So it's settled. Meet me back here in thirty minutes."

"W-wait." Amu said weakly as she watched Nadeshiko running back into the school with her Guardian Character trailing behind her. Once she was gone, Amu pretty much had no choice but to accept her offer and began contemplating the benefits of it.

_A present for the Prince… Doing something with a friend… You know, this is kind of…_

"Exciting?" Ran said, somehow finishing Amu's thought for her.

"N-not really." Amu said. "It's going to be a pain."

"Maybe," Ran said. "But if we don't hurry up, we'll be late!"

"Oh yeah!" Amu said, and began making her way back to her house as quickly as possible.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Amu found herself standing in the Home Economics classroom; her normal school uniform replaced with a black long-sleeved dress with red lace around the collar, skirt, and sleeve holes, and a red plaid apron. She had also changed her hairstyle from the small side-ponytail that she was sporting before to a pair of pigtails held up with X-shaped clips.

"Are you sure we can just come in here?" Amu asked Nadeshiko.

"Oh it's fine." Nadeshiko said. Her school uniform had been replaced by a light purple kimono and a white apron. "I am a Guardian, after all."

"Speaking all high and mighty…" Amu muttered under her breath. If Nadeshiko heard that, she ignored it.

"Let's get started." She said. "We'll be making a fruit tart, okay?"

"Why?" Amu asked. "You're kind of making all the decisions here.

"Because Hotori-kun loves fruit tarts." Nadeshiko said.

"The Prince?" Amu said, now feeling less objective. "In that case…"

"Oh," Nadeshiko said. "And it's better if you don't call him 'prince'." Amu gave Nadeshiko a confused look. Nadeshiko just smiled and changed the subject. "First, let's beat the butter."

First, Nadeshiko showed Amu how to cream the butter and once she was certain she had gotten the hang of it, she let Amu do it herself. Once the butter was nice and creamed, they added the powdered sugar and mixed it, then the egg yolk and mixed it. They then sifted in the flour and once again, mixed it. Once the dough had formed, they put it in the fridge for an hour to chill.

While they waited for the dough to chill, they chatted with each other. (If you're worrying about the time, don't bother. It was a Saturday and Seiyo lets everyone out at noon on Saturdays. So, it was probably around two o'clock at this point and their parents probably wouldn't be worrying about where they were for another three or four hours.) Amu learned that Nadeshiko was actually pretty good at baking and made snacks for the Guardians most days and Amu ended up telling her about her family and what it's been like since moving to Toride.

Eventually the dough was nice and cool and they began to work on the tart again. Nadeshiko preheated the oven while Amu rolled out the dough. Once the dough was to the desired thickness, they transferred the tart to the pan, neatened it up, lightly pricked holes in the bottom, and put it in the oven.

When the tart shell was finally done, Amu held it out in amazement.

"It's done!" She exclaimed.

"It baked well." Nadeshiko commented. "Now, all that's left is to make the cream filling. You can go ahead and get started on the rest." She then turned and began to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Amu asked.

"I'm getting the fruit for the garnish." Nadeshiko said, turning back to her with a wink. She then walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Nadeshiko is nice, isn't she?" Ran said to Amu.

"Think she'll be a good friend?" Miki asked. Amu smiled, but then turned her attention to the ingredients for the cream filling.

"But I'm not confident." She said. "Can I really do this by myself?"

_You can!_ A stunned look crossed Amu's face once she heard the small, but sweet voice in her head. All of a sudden, the bowl filled with the heavy whipping cream began to shake and the whisk began to float in mid-air. _You can do it yourself._ The voice continued. _Character Chan-_

Before the voice could finish that sentence, the sound of clapping hands reverberated through the room, somehow causing the voice to cut off and the whisk to fall back into the bowl.

Amu turned and looked in the direction of where the clap came from and was stunned to find a familiar face sitting in the window.

"Okay," Ikuto said. "That's enough."

"Hey!" Amu said in a mix of surprise and probably undeserved anger. "You're that guy! The perverted cat-eared cosplay guy!"

"Cosplay?" Ikuto questioned.

Question Three: Is that the part you really should be questioning?

"Get away from me, pervert!" Amu said, waving her arms defensively in front of her. "I have a crime-presenting buzzer!" Ikuto smirked and stepped down from the windowsill.

"So the second one hatched?" He said. "But now…" He held out his hand and Yoru dropped the Green Egg – presumably taken from Amu's bag – into it. "I wonder if this is the Embryo."

"The Third Egg!" Amu exclaimed as Ikuto… Brought the egg to his lips and… licked… it…

Question Four: Does Ikuto have freaky fetishes that I'm not aware of?

Understandably, the sight of Ikuto licking her Guardian Egg disturbed Amu to an extreme degree and she charged at him, demanding he give it back. As she charged at him, they both lost their footing and fell to the floor. The egg was dropped, but was undamaged. Neither Amu nor Ikuto noticed though. Amu had fallen… So that way she was underneath Ikuto… And was staring up at him…

Question Five: Can you call the police to report an individual nearly at the age of consent partaking in questionable acts with a minor in hindsight? (Granted, the statute of limitations has definitely run out at this point, but it would just make me feel better.)

So… As they laid awkwardly positioned there for a few minutes, gazing in a manner I find disturbing into each other's eyes, Amu felt the need to break the uncomfortable silence and said something.

"Why are you after my eggs?" She asked in a soft voice, filled with both curiosity and anxiety. "Embryo… What's the Embryo?" Ikuto offered no response and just silently store at her, making the situation creepier with every second that passed by.

Thankfully, a godsend in the form of Nadeshiko burst into the room right at that exact moment.

"**Stop right there!**" She shouted as she flung the door open. "**Get away from her!**"

Ikuto got up from his hands and knees with a smirk on his face while Amu scrambled off the ground and towards Nadeshiko.

"Amu-chan, are you okay?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Yeah." Amu said as she made it over to her, blush on her face.

_What am I doing?_

"Temari," Nadeshiko said. "Character Change!"

"Right away." Temari said, pulling what looked like a flower with multiple blossoms on the same stem (It could have been some sort of staff, I don't know.) and waved it back and forth a couple times while saying "Chin, Ton, Shan!" After she did that, a couple of flowers appeared in Nadeshiko's hair.

At first, one would expect her Character Change to be something elegant and graceful. However, expectations and reality rarely coincide. A Naginata (a Japanese weapon that was used for fighting in ancient times) appeared in her hands and a crazed sparkle shined in her eyes. She gave out a battle cry as Amu, Ran, and Miki were taken aback.

"What!?" Amu exclaimed in shock. "Nadeshiko-san changes into that kind of character?!"

Nadeshiko charged at Ikuto, swinging the Naginata at him, however he expertly dodged it every time she came at him. At one point when dodging it, he jumped up onto the counter where the tart shell was cooling. When she swung at him again, the only way he could have dodged it and avoided getting cut was to jump to his right. When he did that, his foot hit the tray the tart was cooling on, sending it flying into the air.

Amu's eyes went wide when she saw this and Ran and Miki went into full-on panic mode.

"What should we do?" Miki said as she and Ran waved their arms around. "What should we do?"

"Amu-chan," Ran said. "Let's Character Change, too!"

Then, something else caught Amu's eye. The Green Egg rolled from where it was dropped onto the ground before, righted itself so that way it was standing up, then floated up into the air.

"Don't panic." Amu heard a voice from within the egg say. "Don't panic."

The egg then cracked open, revealing a Guardian Character with green eyes and light green hair tied up in pigtails wearing a green maid's outfit and had a green clover clipped to a white hat. The Guardian Character then spun around and smiled.

"Leave this to Su!" She said.

"Su?" Amu said as the little maid character approached.

"Let's go, Amu-chan." Su said. "Let's end this, quick and fluffy!" She then raised a little whisk into the air. "Chips!" The red X-shaped clips in Amu's hair turned into green clover ones. "Syrup!" A giant bowl of whipped cream and a giant whisk appeared in front of Amu. "Whip!" Amu was then forced to stir the whipped cream until so much filled the bowl that it flipped over and a flood of whipped cream filled the room. Nadeshiko and Ikuto saw the giant tidal wave of whipped cream coming towards them and attempted to get out of the way. Amu, meanwhile was sucked into the rush of the heavy cream and was carried out the room along with it.

"I'm going to drown!" She screamed.

"It's a flood of whipped cream-desu!" She heard a sweet voice next to her say. She looked and saw it was Su, who seemed to be enjoying this.

"What the heck is wrong with her?!" Amu shouted.

The whipped cream flood finally seemed to run out of inertia and Amu skidded to a halt in the middle of the hallway. She then sat up and let out a sigh.

"I-I'm safe." She said.

"That was really close-desu." Su said, her eyes spinning like she was dizzy.

Amu then looked up and saw Ikuto standing over her. It seemed he was successful in his attempt to get away from the whipped cream flood as he seemed not to have any on him. His Guardian Character, however, didn't seem to be as lucky as he was licking the heavy cream off of himself.

"So the third one's not the Embryo either." Ikuto said.

"The Embryo again?" Amu said. "What **is** it?"

"Amu-chan," Ran said, interrupting before Amu could get an answer to her question. "Bad news!" Amu got up from the floor and ran back into the room. Once she was in there, she saw Ran and Miki hovering over a broken tart shell. "The tart..."

Nadeshiko then appeared next to her and bent down to pick up one of the broken pieces.

"This is terrible." She said.

"We just finished making it, too." Miki said.

"It's fine." Amu said hopelessly as she got down on her knees to join Nadeshiko on the floor. "I'm not the type who makes deserts in the first place. This is better than the shame I'd feel over giving him something that sucked. So really, nothing's wrong." Slowly, tears streamed down her face.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Amu, Ikuto looked in from the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face. After a few moments of looking in on the situation, Yoru appeared in front of him.

"Let's go, Ikuto." He said.

"Yeah..." Ikuto said as he turned to leave.

"Amu-chan," Nadeshiko said softly as she turned to her. "Let's remake it."

"No," Amu said, wiping away her tears. "It's okay. We don't have enough ingredients to make more."

"Amu-chan," Su said from the counter. "It's alright. With only this much dough left, we might not be able to make a tart, but we can make something else-desu." She then raised her little green whisk into the air and exclaimed: "Character Change!"

The X-shaped clips then turned back into clover shaped ones and Amu got to work rolling out the remaining dough and then used a bunch of cookie cutters that Nadeshiko found in a cabinet to cut out different shapes. Once they baked and cooled off, they decorated the cookies with sprinkles and chocolate pens.

"The cookies are done-desu!" Su exclaimed once they were finished.

"We might not have made a tart..." Miki said.

"But we made cookies!" Ran finished.

"Amu-chan, you're great!" Nadeshiko said.

"They're done." Amu said in amazement.

Su then slowly floated in front of them.

"Just leave it to me-desu!" She said as her feet hit the plate, sending the cookies flying into the air. Luckily, Amu thought fast and caught them in her apron. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that-desu." Su said. Amu just let out a sigh of disbelief.

* * *

"The cookies turned out well!" Miki said. They had since gone home and Amu was in her room with a bunch of different boxes, wrapping papers, paper bags, and ribbons lay out in front of her.

"All we have to do is wrap them-desu." Su said.

"I wonder what color ribbon I should use?" Amu said as she held up three different colored ribbons. "Maybe I should attach a card, too." She then paused for a second and thought about what she had said. "It's not like me to worry about these things."

"In that case..." Ran said. "From a girl who's stubborn to a girl who can be cute and straightforward... Character Change!"

"W-wait!" Amu tried to protest, but it was no use. The X-shaped clips in her hair quickly turned to heart-shaped ones and she was no longer in control of her own body. She found herself picking up a pen and taking a blank card out of the pile of gift wrapping supplies and began to write what was probably the most embarrassing message of her life.

Dear Prince,

I've made some cookies for you. Think of me while you eat them. From the actually shy Amu Hinamori. I'll await your response for the rest of my life.

Well, that wasn't that bad. It's not like she called up her at-the-time ex after having eaten some suspicious brownies she got from some people she met on a beach in California and recited several of Shakespeare's sonnets, quoted a few lines from _Romeo and Juliet_, _Casablanca_, and _Titanic_ (The James Cameron one.), and ended it all with an off-key rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" and that ex is currently her husband and he saved the recording of it from his voice-mail on his computer and uses it every opportunity he gets to prove how "adorable" she is. (I know I should tell him to stop, but is it bad that I find him thinking that horrendously cheesy and embarrassing speech is adorable, adorable? Is that a paradox? You know what; I should probably edit this out later.)

Once Amu finished writing the message, she deposited it in the box with about a third of the cookies and her Guardian Characters helped her wrap it.

"Perfect!" They all exclaimed when they were done.

Then, Amu came to her senses.

"Wait..." She said. "Dummies!"

She then threw the box with the green ribbon in her trash bin and prepared another box. This one, she tied up with a red ribbon.

"There's no way I can give him something so embarrassing!" Amu said.

"But the green one is so much cuter-desu." Su said.

* * *

The sky was clear and the stars shone bright as Ikuto laid in the grass and store up at them. He and Yoru were sharing a bag of cookies, but he hadn't eaten that many. Something else had occupied his mind.

"Looks like this egg wasn't it either-nya." Yoru said as he chomped away at a cookie. He quickly noticed his bearer's lack of a response. "What's wrong-nya?"

"Nothing really." Ikuto said, snapping out of his thoughts and biting into another cookie.

* * *

"Nadeshiko's late." Ran said.

Amu was supposed to meet Nadeshiko at the entrance to a local park. She clutched the straps of the paper bag she put the cookies into and was waiting patiently.

"I wonder if something happened." She wondered aloud as she heard a high-pitched scream from above her and coming closer. She looked up and was immediately met with a bag to the head, causing her to drop the one she was clutching in her hands onto the ground. Amu quickly grabbed the bag before the forces of gravity kicked in and caused that bag to tumble to the ground as well. She shot the green Guardian Character that was holding onto one of the paper straps an angry look. "What are you doing?"

"Let's give him this one!" Su said. "The one with the green ribbon is much cuter-desu!"

"I can't give him that." Amu said. "Besides, this one has-"

"Hinamori-san." The unexpected voice caused Amu to stop mid-sentence in shock. She turned, and saw Tadase standing there looking as "gorgeous" as ever and with the ever-present pleasant smile on his face.

"T-Tadase-kun?" Amu stuttered out.

"I received word that Fujisaki-san will be a bit late," He said. "So I came in her place."

"Oh!" Amu said, going into panic mode. "I-I was just in the area! Bye!" She said as she shoved the paper bag into Tadase's chest. She picked up the other one from the ground and dashed off, leaving Tadase very confused.

* * *

"Well, irregardless," Sarah said. "I'm not gonna watch that stupid show, so you can just stop trying to convince me."

"'Irregardless' isn't a word." I pointed out.

"Neither is 'ain't'." Sarah said.

"I didn't use 'ain't'." I said.

"Whatever." Sarah said as she took another long sip from her ICE-E. I sighed and looked down the street to the left, opposite from where Sarah was sitting beside me.

I know it seems cold and heartless, sitting with my friend, slurping ICE-Es, and arguing about television shows when just two days before I had just murdered someone under orders from my step-father. I know I shouldn't be doing it, but I can't help it. The thing is, for some sick, horrifying reason that I hope I'll never be able to understand, it actually **helps** me to try and mentally distance myself from what I've done. I don't think it's the healthiest thing to do, but contentiously telling myself that it never happened and forcing myself to focus on what's happening in the moment seems to work well enough. ...When I'm not alone. Then... Then things start to crumble.

I was taking another sip from my ICE-E as well when I heard footsteps rapidly approaching. I turned my head to the right and saw a girl with pink hair run around the corner and press her back to the wall. Sarah took notice of her, too, but I don't think she noticed us.

"That surprised me." The pink-haired girl said to herself through sharp intakes of air. "He came out of nowhere, and I just took off without thinking. But I guess its okay. I did give him the cookies."

Then it was almost as if someone had said something to her the way she snapped her head over to the left. She then looked down into the bag she was clutching in that hand. A look of shock then crossed her face.

"Why is that here?" She asked, and then paused for a moment as if she was listening to someone. "That means..." Panic grew in her voice, and realization dawned on her face. As she began freaking out I noticed that Sarah was scooting closer to her along the wall.

"What are you doing?" I asked her, but if she heard me, she ignored it. Once she was close enough to the girl - who still hadn't taken notice of our presence - she began to take the top off of her ICE-E. It was then that I realized what she was doing. I pulled my legs up and got into a crawling position on the wall and moved as quickly as I could over to her. When I got to Sarah, she had the cup tilted so that way it was about to spill all over the poor girl. I reached up and put my hand on the cup, attempting to straighten it out.

"SARAH DON'T!" I shouted as a little bit of the cold, red liquid spilled out of the cup. Luckily, the girl must have heard my shouting and was able to take notice and side-step in time. Sarah then pushed away my hand and put the cup down. I got back into a regular sitting position. "What the hell?"

"What?" Sarah said. "I thought it'd be funny."

"That wasn't funny." I said. "That was just cruel."

"Cruelty can be funny." Sarah pointed out.

"Not if the person doesn't deserve it." I said. "Wait, does she deserve it? I don't know. Let's find out." I then turned to the pink haired girl looking up at us with a look of confusion. "Are you Hitler?"

"What?" The girl asked with a mix of shock and incomprehension.

"Are you Hitler?" I repeated. "Have you done anything so horrible and reprehensible you would be known as the most horrible motherfucking asshole in all of human history? Something like, oh say, attempt to exterminate the Jews?"

"No!" She said, a wild mix of emotions crossing her face. "At least I don't think I have... Wait, what do yo- Why are you asking me- Who are you people?"

"I'm Slim Shady," I said and then pointed at Sarah. "and she's Royce da 5'9"."

"Wait," Sarah said. "why am I Royce da 5'9"?"

"Because I say so." I said.

"Why were you going to dump that on me?" The girl asked suddenly.

"She thinks she's funny." I said. "In reality, she's just being a prick."

"Hey!" Sarah said, sounding somewhat offended.

"Well it's true." I said.

"Yeah, you're right." Sarah said, all offense dropped from her voice.

"Well," I said. "Sorry about that, kid. We'd love to stick around, but it's probably best if you don't know us." I then jumped off the wall and turned to look up at Sarah. "Let's go."

"But I just got comfortable." Sarah whined.

"Do you want me to call you Royce da 5'9" again?" I asked.

"Fine." Sarah said, hopping off the wall and reluctantly trailing behind me.

As we walked away I briefly wondered if I had seen that girl before. I just brushed it off and continued on.

* * *

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Ran said.

"W-Wait, don't push." Amu said. She then promptly fell into Tadase's yard, landing on her shoulder. "Infiltration successful, kind of." She said painfully.

Once Sarah and I had gone and Amu and her Guardian Characters had come to the consensus that our interaction was entirely weird, the immediately remembered that the bag that Amu gave to Tadase had the love letter in it and went to retrieve it. The thing I found weird, though, is that Amu didn't have to look up where Tadase lived. She just knew. Why... Why do I get the feeling that she might potentially be showing stalking tendencies?

Amu quickly got up from the ground and began moving from object to object. Once she had hidden behind a bush close to the house, she informed her Guardian Characters of her plan.

"Listen up." She said. "We have to reclaim control of the bag before the Prince can open it, no matter what."

"Roger!" Ran, Miki, and Su said in unison.

Tadase lived in a traditional-style Japanese House, so they could easily crawl under the porch-like hallway (This is one of those things that I have a hard time explaining, especially if I haven't been to Japan in a really long time. Basically, it's like an enclosed wrap-around porch with movable panels so that way you can open them up and go in and out at any point of the house. Don't worry, they can lock.) Until she found Tadase's room.

"This is kind of like _Mission Impossible_-desu." Su remarked as they crawled under the porch.

"Based on what we find in the room at the end," Ran said. "Let's go in."

_A boy's room. _Amu thought as she paused in her crawling for a second.

"Amu-chan," Ran said. "Aren't you getting excited for a different reason?" Amu was about to shoot Ran a glare but was quickly distracted.

"Let's break in-desu!" Su said, possibly way too excited about this. Amu crawled out from under the porch and entered the house through an open wall panel. She slid open the first door and saw an immaculately put together room. All the books in the bookshelf were alphabetized, the bureau draws were closed and didn't have any articles of clothing sticking out from between them, the desk was neat and uncluttered, and the bed was made. The thing that stuck out most to Amu, though, was the blue plaid Guardian Cape hanging neatly from a hook next to the desk.

"This is the Prince's..." Amu said, before correcting herself. "Tadase-kun's room."

"It's pretty clean-desu." Su remarked as they walked in.

Amu looked around the room. Quickly, something else caught her attention.

"There it is!" She said upon seeing the pink-and-blue polka-dotted bag. Her relief at seeing the bag was cut short, though.

"What are you doing?"

Amu froze for a second, and then slowly turned her head around. On a rocking chair in the corner of the room she saw a little doll-sized throne in the seat and Tadase's Guardian Character sitting on top of it.

"This is called breaking and entering." Kiseki said.

"The Prince's Guardian Character?" Amu questioned.

"So you're the one with the three Guardian Characters." Kiseki said. "Just as I suspected, none of you are the Embryo." Just as he finished saying that, Kiseki found himself being grabbed by a pair of hands and pulled up towards Amu's face.

"Wow," Amu said with adoration in her voice and a twinkle in her eye. "When you look closely, he's like a mini Tadase-kun! How totally cute!"

"What are you doing?" Kiseki protested. "I can't breathe!"

"So what is that Embryo thing, anyway, Mini Tadase-kun?" Amu asked.

"My name is Kiseki, you insolent fool." Kiseki said. "Listen up. The Embryo is a magical egg capable of granting any wish."

"**Any** wish?" Amu questioned.

"Right, and that's why many seek it." Kiseki said.

Also, it's completely fake. Yes, you heard me right; the magical egg that can grant any and every wish is a complete sham. Tadase's uncle, and his uncle's girlfriend tried telling me the exact same story and I never believed it for one second. I mean, just think about it. If there was something that was capable of granting any wish, it would've definitively gotten into the wrong hands by this point and we would be living under a totalitarian regime. ...Okay, ignore the fact that there have been multiple totalitarian regimes throughout history. It's been proven that those people have used mass manipulation to get their power rather than wishing for it.

Amu meanwhile was eating that story right up. So much so that she stopped paying attention to Kiseki for a second.

"And why will you become one of the subjects," Kiseki said. "And join the search-"

"Does that mean Tadase-kun has a wish he wants granted?" Amu asked, cutting him off. Before he could answer, though, they heard footsteps approaching.

"Kiseki," Tadase's voice could be heard from the hallway as he slid open the door. "Is someone there?" Once the door was fully open Amu froze in place. She didn't know what expression he had on his face as she was too afraid to turn around. "Huh? Hinamori-san."

_N-n-no!_

* * *

After Amu finished freaking out and explained that she had given Tadase the wrong bag of cookies and she was just trying to replace them, he assured her he wasn't mad at her for breaking into his house (Which he should be, but whatever. Amu should at least be thanking her lucky stars that it wasn't his bitch of a mother that found him.) They ended up sitting with the panels open on the outer edge of the porch.

"I'm so glad you came to visit." Tadase said.

"S-sure." Amu said in a small voice.

"I guess there's nothing to worry about now that we got it back." Ran said to Su.

"It was cute, too." Su said sadly. "Oh well-desu."

"But you still don't want to join the Guardians?" Tadase asked Amu. "I would feel a lot better if you were there with me. Let's look for the Embryo together. We need your help."

"Tadase-kun," Amu said with a light blush across her face. "Is there something you want to wish for?"

"Yes." Tadase said. "You have three Guardian Characters, even though a person usually only has one. On top of that, you can Chara Nari. If you joined our group, it would mean a significant increase in our strength."

_I guess I really do like him._ Amu thought. _I wonder if I'm up to the challenge of helping him with his dream._

Tadase then gave her a smile that only made her blush darken.

"Prince." She whispered.

"Prince?" Tadase repeated. All of a sudden, a golden crown appeared on top of his head and his bangs covered his eyes. "Did you just call me 'prince'? Do not call me a prince!" He said, springing up while his Guardian Cape suddenly appeared around his shoulders. He turned to a shocked Amu with a twinkle of arrogance in his eyes, laughing like an obvious villain in a movie. At the same time, Yaya, Nadeshiko, and Kukai finally showed up. All of them had bemused expressions on their faces once they noticed their friend's Character Change.

"We haven't seen the King in a while." Kukai said.

"What's going on?" Amu exclaimed as she rushed over to the other three Guardians.

"This is why I warned you not to call him 'prince'." Nadeshiko said.

"When did you warn me?!" Amu exclaimed.

"When he gets like this," Yaya said. "No one can touch him! Yay!"

"Yay?" Amu repeated.

"Mark my words, commoners." Tadase turned to the four of them and said. "I am no weak prince! I am the King!"

"Y-you mean to say that Tadase's dream is..." Amu said, trailing off as she was putting the pieces together.

"That's right!" Tadase said. "World domination!" He then began laughing "evilly" again.

"You're evil, Tadase-kun." Amu said weakly and in shock.

"Its okay, Amu-chan." Nadeshiko assured. "He'll turn back to normal soon."

"Wait," Amu said. "So all of you have been working to further his ambitions?"

"Of course!" Yaya exclaimed. "We've all been searching for the Embryo together!"

"W-why?" Amu asked.

"Because it's something to do." The three Guardians said in unison.

"The Guardians are ridiculous." Amu said a look of exasperation and exhaustion combined crossing her face.

After a few minutes of standing in the middle of his backyard and laughing maniacally, the Character Change wore off and Tadase had retreated to a corner of the yard and just sat there like an emo kid. After another few minutes of watching him sulk, Amu got up the courage to approach him.

"Tadase-kun." She said.

"Whenever I Character Change," He said suddenly, sounding humiliated. "I get like that. You must be shocked, Hinamori-san."

"That's not true at all, Pri... I mean, Tadase-kun." Amu said.

"Before," He said. "I wasn't fit to hold the King's Chair at all."

"That's right." Yaya said in a half-whisper as she came up beside Amu. "Tadase's actually very shy."

"He really struggled with talking in front of big crowds." Nadeshiko said as she came up on the other side.

"Exactly," Tadase said, having heard the other two girls. "And that's why I wished to become stronger. I wished to become someone else."

Tadase's words struck a chord in Amu, reminding her of what she said the night before she found her Guardian Eggs.

_"Oh, Great Fortune Teller, please give me courage. I wish to be given a new life."_ She thought. _The prince is just like me._

"And then my Guardian Egg was born." Tadase finished.

"I become who Tadase would like to be." Kiseki said as he floated over his bearer's shoulder. "That's what Guardian Characters are."

"So then," Amu said, turning to look back at the other three Guardians. "All of you..." As she trailed off, Temari and Pepe floated beside their bearers. Both Nadeshiko and Yaya gave them bright, sweet smiles, causing Amu to smile as well.

At the same time Kukai ran up behind Tadase and threw his arms around his neck.

"How long are you going to stay depressed?" He asked. "Have some willpower, you greenhorn king."

"That's right, Tadase." Kiseki agreed.

"Jeez." Tadase groaned. "Not you, too, Kiseki."

Amu smiled as she looked on at the scene.

_It's not just me! I wanted to be someone else. I felt depressed and got in over my head. But it was the same for everyone!_

"Amu-chan." Ran said. Amu turned to look and saw her three Guardian Characters holding up the gift-wrapped box with the red ribbon on it, all of them with the same bright smiles on their faces. Amu took the box from them and slowly stepped over to where Tadase and Kukai were standing.

"Seriously, you always amaze me." Kukai said to Tadase as she approached.

"Jeez." Tadase said, before Amu caught their attention.

"U-um..." Amu said as she held out the box. "These... If you'd like..." Tadase gave her a pleasant smile and took the box from her.

"Thank you." He said.

"They smell like cookies!" Yaya exclaimed, grabbing Amu by the shoulders from behind and shaking her. "I want some, too!"

"Cut it out, Yaya-chan." Nadeshiko said in a warning tone.

"Let's all have some." Tadase said, surprising everyone. A small blush came across Amu's face. She then smiled.

"Good idea." She said.

"Yay!" Yaya exclaimed. "Thanks, Amu-chi!"

"But Yaya can only have three." Amu said. Yaya let out a gasp of shock while everyone else laughed.

* * *

"I'm tired." Amu complained later that night, putting her head down on her desk. She seemed like she was going to fall asleep right then and there, even though she hadn't even changed into her pajamas yet. She let out an exhausted sigh.

"All of the Guardians were nicer than I expected." Ran said.

"Yeah." Amu agreed.

"I'm kind of sad, though." Su said as she floated up with the green-ribbon box. "We weren't able to give him this-desu."

"Everything that happened today was your fault!" Amu snapped, scaring Su. "You should reflect your actions a bit!"

"Amu-chan is scary-desu!" Su screeched as she went soaring back to her egg.

"Jeez." Amu sighed. She then got up and went out onto her balcony.

Once outside, she opened up her hand to reveal the Humpty Lock clutched within it. She stared down at the crystals adorning the lock, reflecting on the day's events. Eventually, Ran, Miki, and Su joined her outside.

"Nothing good has happened since you guys showed up." Amu said once she noticed their presence. They seemed shocked for a second, but got over it fairly quickly. They turned to look up at the sky and Amu did as well. "Well, maybe it's not all bad."

* * *

The next day the Guardians held an early-morning assembly. They held this assembly every third Monday of the month to discuss the events of the previous month, make announcements for the upcoming month, and allow students to propose additions or changes to the school's regulations. (If the propositions seemed reasonable and got administrative approval, they would be discussed in full at the afternoon meeting held on the first Thursday of every month, which was the meeting that Amu had run out of before.) Being that it was an early morning meeting, most of the students were rather quiet due to the fact that they had to get up so early. (Well, technically SAES starts at nine o'clock, but because it's a private school and forty-three percent of all Toride residents are below the poverty line, most of the students don't live in Toride. In fact, Amu, Tadase, and Nadeshiko are among the few who do. Kukai lives in Moriya and Yaya lives in Kitasoma.) So, the meeting was going by rather quickly.

"That's all for last week." Tadase said into the microphone as he stood in front of the podium. "Continuing on, and although this may be unusual, we'll be announcing a new Guardian Member." That caught the attention of the half-asleep students. The room was quickly filled with gasps of shock and the murmurs of speculation between the children.

Amu, meanwhile, was dead silent. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next and was begging every deity she could think of in her head for this to not happen; for this to not be true.

"The new Guardian member," Tadase said. "In other words, the fifth Guardian is... The Joker: Amu Hinamori!" Nearly every student in the auditorium turned to look at her. Some wearing looks of shock, some excitement, and others envy. Amu just sat there frozen with a bright red blush covering her face.

_The J-Joker?_ She thought. _What the heck is that?!_

* * *

**Dear Readers, **

**I regret to inform you that I have been drafted into the Skeleton War, and henceforth have been absent for many weeks while training. It seems as though I shall be on the battle field for some time, as Donald Trump and his band of Fuckboys are relentless. Thousands of good honorable Skeletons have lost their lives already. Pray for them. Pray for all of us.**

**Wishing you good bones and calcium,**

**MW96**

**P.S. If you're reading this before I've finished re-writing the majority of chapters, be aware that nothing but crap lies ahead.**

* * *

**This chapter was uploaded to Fanfiction on 10/6/15. **


	6. Joker

**Fair warning, something wonky was going on with Word when I tried to edit this, so as a result this chapter hasn't gone through a spelling and grammar check. Read at your own risk.**

**"Joker" by Turn a Studio Featuring Miku Hatsune**

* * *

"What do you mean 'what'?" Tadase said with a look of confusion on his face.

"Oh," Nadeshiko said with a slight smile. "we're having brownies today."

"I love the brownies that Nadeshiko makes!" Yaya cheered.

"Not that!" Amu angrily exclaimed when she realized that the Guardians were about to go off track. It was now after school and the Guardians had gathered around the table in the Royal Garden for their daily tea party. Although Amu was now officially a Guardian, she hadn't taken a seat at the table, most likely due to how furious she was. "You guys brought me into the Guardians without permission, and what's a Joker?"

"What?" Kukai said as he held up a playing card, the back facing Amu. As he spoke, he flipped it around to reveal that it was a Joker playing card. "You don't know? It's a trump card."

"A trump card?" Amu questioned.

"That's right." Kukai said as he stood up and pointed directly in her face. "You have three Guardian Characters. That's amazing, and that's why you're the Joker. That's all there is to it." He then took a bite out of a brownie.

"That doesn't help!" Amu protested. Nadeshiko giggled.

"The Joker has a special role to play." Nadeshiko explained.

"Special?" Amu questioned.

"We Guardians always seem like we're partying it up," Yaya said. "but really most of our work is pretty boring." Yes, eating brownies, searching for a mythical magical egg, holding daily tea parties, and using school money to pay for all of it is boring. So are video games, being a public nuisance, and owning a rainbow-shitting unicorn.

"So basically," Kukai said. "all the Joker has to do are the special missions." Why is this reminding me of a conversation I had with my step-father years ago? "Oh, Marceline, don't worry about it. All you have to do are the 'special missions'." (Sorry, those two words just seem to be a trigger for me. Shut up, I know you have one, too you special snowflake. In fact, just so you know how I feel, I'm going to spend the rest of this book trying to exploit yours. Don't get angry, you brought this upon yourself.)

"Being a Joker sounds so nice." Yaya said.

"You're right." Kukai agreed.

"Anyway…" Daichi said as he and Pepe floated up, momentarily distracting Amu from Kukai and Yaya quickly grabbed something from a bag under the table and presented it to her in an almost over-dramatic manner; Yaya winking and striking a pose while Kukai grinned ridiculously and waved the cape up and down to simulate the wind blowing through it. It also seemed like they decided to pour glitter on it before giving it to her, because it was sparkling as well.

"Here's your cape, Amu!" Yaya said.

"Anything but that!" Amu cried. She then felt someone put their hand on her shoulder and turned to look behind her. She blushed when she saw Tadase standing there.

"It's okay, Hinamori-san," He said. "You only have to wear it for official functions." Then why do you and the rest of the Guardians wear them most of the time you're in school? What? It's a legitimate question. Although, Amu didn't think to ask it and Tadase continued on with that charming, sparkly look on his face. "Let's work hard together."

"Tadase-kun." Amu said with a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Amu-chan." Ran said with a look of exhausted exasperation on her face.

"She's getting carried away again." Miki commented.

"She is-desu." Su agreed.

* * *

I had been watching _Channel Five News at Four-thirty_. Nothing really of note had happened – the same old stories about police shooting unarmed black men and ISIS running around the Middle East killing people – that was, until a strange advertisement came on the screen. At least, I think it was an advertisement. At least I hope it was an advertisement and a joke one at that. It also could have been a drug PSA; a very terrible drug PSA. It was basically a scene from the _American Dad!_ episode "A Jones for a Smith" where the character Stan Smith becomes addicted to crack and at one point after he smokes crack a fake advertisement plays that promotes crack like it's Viagra or Cialis.

Normally, this wouldn't be strange. It easily could have been an ad promoting the show. However, this channel doesn't air episodes of _American Dad!_. Also, there was no indication at the end of the ad of what channel you can watch it on or where you can buy it on DVD. Also, there's a small part at the end of the fake ad where Stan comes down from his high and finds himself in a run-down building cuddling with a disgusting-looking crackhead. I just really hope that this was somehow meant to be taken as a PSA to discourage the use of crack in a humorous way otherwise I'd have to give up all hope for humanity. (Actually, it's kind of too late to say that, but…)

As that ad came off the screen – leaving me with a confused look on my face – news graphic flashed and was quickly replaced by the faces of our two local news anchors, Jirou Inoue and Hoshiko Suzuki. I mostly just stared blankly at the screen as a listened to them rattles off more of the day's stories and I tried to brush off the shock of the advertisement. As Hoshiko was talking about a Planned Parenthood clinic being bombed and Jirou patiently sat there waiting for her to finish so that way he could make a quip along the lines of how terrible it was that her evening plans got cancelled, I heard one of the upstairs doors open and shut. I was expecting it to be my mother and started to brace myself for the screaming match that would inevitably happen, but was surprised when I saw Ikuto coming down the stairs. I thought he would have left the house by that point, but apparently not.

"What are you watching?" He asked as he sat down next to me.

"Channel Five News." I replied.

"Oh." He just said. I gave him a weird look. "What?"

"Why are you sitting next to me?" I asked.

"'Cause I want to." He said, unsure as to why I was I was giving him the third degree. "Why? Is there a problem with that?"

"No." I said. "It's just strange. Normally at this time you're out doing whatever you do when you're not here."

"Well, I don't want to go out right now." He said like it was nothing.

"Really?" I questioned in disbelief.

"Really." He said.

"Hm." There was a slightly uncomfortable pause after that. "So… How was school today?"

"Didn't go." He said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Why don't you?" He responded.

"You know I can't." I said. "I got thrown out because I killed that girl."

"You only threw her into a persisted vegetative state." He pointed out.

"Yeah." I said. "Then she died two years later when her parents took her off of life support. So, technically, I killed her."

I feel I need to clarify here. When I was six-years-old and in first grade, I was picked on quite a bit in school. Nearly every child in my grade took part in this, but the worst offenders were these three Filipino girls who were the worst offenders. Their names were Maricel, Rowena, and Marites. One day, I was just sitting in a corner of the playground, trying to read a book and not bothering anyone when they came up to me and started harassing me. It quickly escalated into a physical altercation and about five or six other kids joined in while the rest of the kids on the playground just gathered in a semi-circle around the fight and just kept egging them on. Eventually, I was able to escape the beat-down and grabbed a brick that had fallen from the crumbling wall behind me. Maricel was approaching me and raised her fist to punch me, but before she could I slammed the brick into her temple as hard as I could. She fell to the ground. At first, I thought I had knocked her out, but when I saw her trying to get back up, I slammed the brick into her temple again. At this point, the other kids had dispersed and went to get a teacher while Rowena and Marites approached me, wrestled the brick out of my grip, and pinned me to the ground. I think they would have beaten me further if the teacher hadn't come when she did. The police were called, an ambulance came and took Maricel away, I was almost arrested but the police ruled that due to my age and the fact that I was being mercilessly beaten at the time, that my actions were justifiably in self-defense and I had no way of knowing that my actions would lead to her death. The school, however, did not see this and decided to put the safety of their students first and expelled me.

Now, normally if a child was expelled from school they could easily transfer to another school in a different district, however my case was special. Before my parents enrolled me in Toride Public Elementary School, they attempted to enroll me in Seiyo Academy Elementary School. In order to be accepted into the school, you have to pass a psychological examination. This is mostly because they don't want another shooting to happen and they want to make sure that whoever they let into the school isn't deranged enough to believe that everyone around them is an alien in human form and is conspiring to kill him and replace him with an alien double. I, like every other student who applied to the school, took the psychological evaluation and failed. Mostly because they said I was showing early warning signs of either a personality disorder or an anti-social disorder. Therefore, they wouldn't let me into the school. My parents responded to this by pulling Ikuto and Utau out of SAES and enrolling us in the local public school. This kind of screwed me because once I was expelled from public school, no school would accept me because not only had I acted out violently against another student, but it was provable that I was mentally unstable beforehand. In order to solve the problem of my education, my mom had me enrolled in online classes, but to be honest I never did the work and no one seemed to care.

Ikuto, however, is a different story. Unlike me, he was still enrolled in school and was in his first year of high school. The only reason why he doesn't go to school is because he doesn't really want to. I don't know exactly why he doesn't want to be there, he just doesn't. Sometimes, he'll just sleep through the alarm and not go, other times he'll leave the house like he's going to school but then just not go, and a few times (mostly when we were completely out of food at the house) he'd just go and stay until lunch. One important thing to note is that high school in Japan is completely optional. Unlike in America, you have to take and pass an exam in order to get into high school here and you don't have to take the exam if you don't want to, although, most people do due to societal and/or family pressure. What I think happened was that Easter pretty much told him that he either had to go to high school or work for them full time and Ikuto just basically took the lesser of two evils.

After that, the conversation pretty much died out and we just sat there listening to reporter Hiroko Takanawa describe a triple-rape/homicide in graphic detail before sending it back to Jirou and Hoshiko who made subtle jabs at each other before sending it over to the weatherman, Takehiko Yoshida. I looked away in disgust.

_How can you go from talking about a horrible crime to talking about the weather in thirty seconds flat?_ I thought. I glanced at Ikuto. He didn't seem to be paying attention to what they were saying on the TV at all. I kind of got the feeling that something was wrong, so I decided to asked him about it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, although I knew how he'd respond.

"Nothing." Right on the money.

"Nothing, huh?" I said.

_If that's how you want to play, Tsukiyomi, so be it_. I thought as I moved so that way I was lying on my back. I moved my socked feet off the coffee table and stuck them right in his face. "So if nothing is wrong, why are my feet in your face?"

"Get your feet out of my face, Marceline." He said, pushing my feet out of his face, but as soon as they were gone, they were back.

"Well, you said there's nothing wrong." I said. "There has to be something wrong if my feet are in your face."

"That doesn't make any sense." Ikuto pointed out as he pushed them away again.

"It doesn't have to." I said.

"You know what? Fine." He said after I stuck my feet in his face for the eighth time. "You want to stick your feet in my face, go right ahead. I don't care."

"You don't, huh?" I said with a smile on my face.

"Nope." He said.

"Okay then." I said.

I let a long silence pass before I revealed what I was going to do next.

I began to sing the lyrics to "Die Young" by Ke$ha.

"Okay, I do not have to take this torture." Ikuto said as he got up from the couch and began walking towards the kitchen. I got up and followed him, and continued to sing the song, much to his chagrin.

Ikuto hates Ke$ha. I mean he absolutely **hates** her. He hates her more than Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, or any of the manufactured J-pop girl groups that are inescapable here, which is saying something. I meanwhile, love Ke$ha and know every lyric to her songs and I know how much he hates her, so I knew exactly how to torture him.

I continued to sing.

"You have horrible taste in music." Ikuto complained as he reached the fridge.

"No I don't." I said.

"You listen to Ke$ha, Demi Lovato, Miranda Cosgrove, Robin Thicke, Taylor Swift, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5…" I cut him off.

"I also listen to Eminem, Marina and the Diamonds, Maximum the Hormone, Black Veil Brides, the Killers, Evanescence…" I said.

"And that makes up for the crap?" He questioned as he opened the fridge door.

"Yeah, I think so." I said. "Besides, three out of those four bands you like, too."

"Oh." Ikuto suddenly said as he looked into the fridge.

"What?" I asked.

"We're completely out of food." He said, stepping out of the way so that I could see that the fridge was in fact completely empty.

"What?" I said in disbelief. "How'd that happen? I just went shopping yesterday."

"The refrigerator went running?" He sarcastically suggested.

"Well, this is just great." I muttered as I face palmed. I ran the hand I face palmed with up my face, pushed back my bangs and ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to think of something.

"How much money do you have in the emergency stash?" Ikuto asked.

"Uh, I think about forty-thousand yen." I said.

"If you give me a hundred-thousand I'll go out and get us enough to last the rest of the week." He said.

"Okay." I said and left to retrieve the money from its hiding place. I came back, counted it out just to make sure I gave him the correct amount, and handed it to him. "Just so you know, we're probably not gonna have running water for the next month."

"The water's already brown and tastes like raw sewage." He said. "I don't care."

"Alright then." I said as he started to walk off. "Get me some Cheetos!"

* * *

_"Kira, kira, hikaru! (It sparkles and shines!_)

_Star, Star Twinkle!" _Ami sang into the fake microphone as she stood on top of a box. Her mother cheered her on while her father filmed it. Her big sister had just gotten out of the shower when she came across the scene and looked slightly annoyed.

"You're bugging the neighbors." Amu complained before walking into the kitchen. Her comment was apparently ignored by their parents as Ami sang the closing lines of the song.

"So Ami-chan," Amu's mother said. "are you going to take a bath with Mama or Papa?" What? Wait, isn't she a little old to be taking baths with her parents? What is she, three? That's too old to be taking baths with your parents. Regardless, Ami paused for a second in consideration.

"Papa today!" Ami said. Her father looked overjoyed when she said that.

"I'm touched!" Their father exclaimed. "But someday, **you'll** stop taking a bath with me, too!" Okay, I can't be the only one who finds that disturbing.

Amu, who the comment was obviously directed at just huffed, took a bottle of milk from the fridge and headed upstairs.

* * *

Amu stood outside on her balcony as she took a long, drawn-out gulp of milk. Once she finished, she let out a refreshed sigh.

"You just have to drink milk after a bath!" She exclaimed.

"Amu-chan," Ran said as she and the other three Guardian Characters floated up. "you're acting like an old man."

"Even though she's the heroine-desu." Su said.

"And a Gurdian." Miki added.

After hearing Miki say that, Amu turned to look behind her at the Humpty Lock and the bag the Guardians had given her sitting on her desk.

"A Guardian…" She trailed off.

* * *

"Someday," Tadase had said earlier that day as they all stared down at the Humpty Lock, which was being presented to Amu on a white cushion. (Which I don't get seeing as they told her to keep it before, so why are they giving it to her again?) "someone with three Guardian Eggs will appear. Keep this until that time comes. The Founding King left this Humpty Lock with those words."

"The Humpty Lock." Amu repeated. "Which means there's a key to it, isn't there?"

"We don't know." Nadeshiko said as she put a chain around the latch. "All we've been doing is handing down what the Founding King left us. In other words, this lock." She then handed the lock to Tadase who walked over to Amu and put it around her neck. "But there is something of which we are certain."

"And that is that this lock is yours, Hinamori-san." Tadase finished. Amu looked at him over her shoulder with a blush on her face.

"But there's one other thing." Kukai said. Amu turned to see Kukai and Yaya holding up a bag.

"Here's a Guardian Egg pouch as a present!" Yaya exclaimed.

"As you can see," Kukai said as he opened up the pouch, revealing her three Guardian Eggs inside. "it's designed like this. Your three Guardian Eggs fit in snugly!" As he said that, Ran, Miki, and Su popped out of their eggs.

"Wh-when did you guys…" Amu attempted to ask them, but Ran cut her off.

"Yay, you got a present!"

"Well," Miki said. "it'll be more like our home."

"I'll be able to sleep well-desu!" Su exclaimed.

Amu sighed, and then looked up to see all of the Guardians smiling at her. Amu blushed and gave a small smile back.

* * *

Thinking back on it, Amu couldn't help but smile.

"I guess being the Joker won't be so bad." Amu said before taking another long, drawn out swig.

"What are you smiling about?" Ikuto asked as his face suddenly appeared upside-down in front of Amu's. He pulled away just as Amu began to spit the milk out in shock. Once she got all the milk out, she took a step back, screaming, and covering her chest as she was wearing a tube-top dress made out of a towel like material and nothing else underneath it. Ikuto, meanwhile, got down from the roof and and set foot on her balcony. "You know, your breasts won't get any bigger just 'cause you drink that stuff." Wait, they won't?

"That's none of your busine-" Amu began to say, but then realized something. "Wait, why are you even here? You already know that my eggs aren't the Embryo! Oh, the Humpty Lock! You're going to try to steal it again!" She said, jumping in front of the door so she could attempt to stop him from getting in if he tried.

"Nope." Ikuto said as he pulled a plastic bag out from behind his back.

"We're giving this to you as repayment." Yoru said as he came out from behind Ikuto.

"Repayment?" Amu questioned. He handed her the bag and she and her Guardian Characters looked in.

"There are a lot of snacks-desu!" Su said.

"They're all the kind of stuff you'd get at your grandmother's house, though." Miki said.

"What is this for?" Amu asked.

"You made a desert like that before, right?" Ikuto said.

"Huh?" Amu said in confusion, then she remembered the Friday before. "Oh, you mean the tart?"

"So that was called a tart?" Ikuto said. "Well, it's not like there's much of a difference between deserts, anyway."

"That isn't true," Amu said, slightly annoyed. "but whatever." She quickly lost her look of annoyance, though when a thought struck her.

_But I guess he's trying to apologize_. She thought. _In that case, I should probably thank him. But wait, he was the one who destroyed the tart in the first place._

"Well, anyway…" Yoru said as Ikuto turned to leave.

"Wait!" Amu exclaimed as Ikuto got one leg up on the balcony railing. He turned to look back at her. A blush spread across her face and she suddenly felt nervous. "Um, um… What are you after, Ikuto?"

"Do you want to know?" He asked her.

"Uh, yes." She said, although she didn't sound entirely sure.

"Fine," He said as he took a step towards her. "but you're the only one I'll tell. Lend me your ear."

"My ear?" Amu questioned as Ikuto cupped her face in his hands.

"It's okay." He said as he leaned in closer and turned her head so he could whisper in her ear.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah," He said. "it'll be a secret."

"O-okay." Amu said and he leaned in even closer. So close that she could even feel his lips grazing her earlobe and his teeth sinking into the shell of her ear. Amu's eyes opened wide as she pushed him away and began to cradle her ear.

"My ear!" She screamed.

"I tricked you." Ikuto said before turning and once again put one foot on the balcony's railing.

"You pervert!" Amu shouted. "Idiot! Liar! Perverted cat!"

"Amu-chan," Ran said, trying to calm her down. "don't get all worked up."

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Amu could hear her mother calling from downstairs.

"N-nothing!" Amu called back. "It's nothing at all!" She then turned back to whisper at Ikuto. "Hurry home. Shoo, shoo."

"There is one thing I'd like to tell you." Ikuto said in a serious tone. "Don't get involved with the Embryo." Amu's face looked surprised upon hearing that. "If you continue to stay with that little king of yours, we'll be enemies." Amu opened her mouth to say something, but Ikuto cut her off. "Later." He said and then jumped off the balcony and into the night.

_Enemies? What's that about?_

* * *

Ikuto came back around eight o'clock. I had been upstairs in my room, drying my hair when I heard the front door open and close. I was glad to hear it. I was beginning to worry that something happened. I ran out to the balcony overlooking the living room and saw him standing there, empty handed.

"Where are the groceries?" I asked.

"What?" He said.

"The groceries." I said, restraining my anger as I tried to jog his memories. "I gave you the money to go get them hours ago."

"Uh…" He trailed off. I guess on the way home he'd have to deal with me once he got there and didn't have a pre-prepared response.

_He forgot?_ I thought. _That's so unlike him._

"Well, can I have the money back?" I asked.

He stayed silent.

_Holy fuck, he didn't forget. He **chose** to spend it on something stupid._

"Ikuto." I said.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to hit you with a bat."

* * *

Nadeshiko, Yaya, and Tadase were sitting down, enjoying their picnic. Although there was a slight chill in the air because of the fact that it was mid-October, the three Guardians seemed content as they munched on their cookies and sipped their tea.

"Nice weather." Nadeshiko commented.

"Indeed," Kiseki agreed as he floated next to Tadase. "perfect for training subjects."

"Oh, they're here." Pepe said as the sound of loud screaming came closer to them. Within a few seconds Kukai and Amu passed by them. Kukai was holding the end of a long ring of rope, while Amu had the other end of the ring around her waist and was desperately trying to keep up with him.

"I'm going to pick up the pace!" Kukai exclaimed as they ran past. A few seconds later they had circled around and he was now dragging Amu in the opposite direction.

"Amu-chan, keep fighting!" Yaya cheered on.

Amu just let out a groan. They had now spent almost the entire lunch hour running around like this. If they didn't stop soon, she figured her legs would probably give out on her. Besides, she didn't even know why they were supposed to be doing this "training".

"W-wait!" She called out. "Why are we racing around all of a sudden?"

"If this is enough to make you give up," Daichi – who amazingly was able to fly fast enough to keep up – said. "then you won't be able to complete the Joker's special missions."

"You keep saying special," Amu said. "but just what are these special missions, anyway?"

Kukai then suddenly came to a stop, causing Amu to keep going forward due to the momentum. Kukai caught her before she could slam into her. Amu looked up at him and blushed (Well, it looks like her affections are easily won over.) before turning away and crossing her arms, trying to act cool.

"So what are these special missions?" Amu asked.

"X-Egg hunting." Kukai said. "That's the Joker's special mission."

"X-Egg hunting?" Amu questioned. "You mean catching those weird-looking eggs?" As she said that, she thought back on when she had somehow saved Suzuki by Chara Naring with Ran.

"Yeah," Kukai said. "if eggs go out of control and you ignore them, bad things'll happen to the egg's owner. That's why the Joker's job is to cleanse the X-Eggs, or, in the worst case, to destroy them."

"I don't really like that." Amu said solemnly. Kukai looked at her, slightly surprised. "I wonder if there really can be a good or bad egg in one's heart."

Kukai's eyes brightened upon hearing her say that.

* * *

Three fourth graders at SAES were walking back to their classroom and chatting with each other as they walked back to their classroom. One was a pigtailed blonde with brown eyes and glasses, the other had brown eyes and a short pixie cut, and the final had short green hair and blue eyes. As they turned the corner, they saw Amu and Kukai talking.

"Hinamori-san is with Kukai-senpai." The brunette said.

"She really is amazing, after all." The blonde said. "It's like she has a completely different mindset than we do."

"Yeah." The brunette agreed.

"She was able to become friends with the Guardians just like that." The green haired girl said. She seemed slightly sad as she said this, and didn't notice her friends leaving her behind for a second. Once she did, though, she quickly started running to catch up to them. (Also, of course they're friends. Friends force other friends to join their club, carry out special missions, and search for a magical MacGuffin that doesn't exist all the time right?)

The entire time, none of the girls noticed the ominous figure lurking in the shadows.

* * *

"Yuki-chan." The green-haired girl's mother said as she knocked on her bedroom door. When her daughter didn't respond, she opened the door to see her daughter blankly staring at the cover of a book rather than packing. "Yuki-chan!" The girl's attention was finally caught and she turned her head to look at her mother. "You were spacing out again. Are you even packing?"

"I am." She reassured her mother glanced around at the boxes surrounding her.

"Okay," Her mother said. "well, I just got a phone call from Dad. He said he stopped by the elementary school you'll be transferring to in America."

"I see." She said, trying to look happy.

"You'll have to at least make sure you can say a greeting in English." Her mother said. "You're a smart girl, so I'm sure you'll be okay. You'll be up to any challenge."

"Okay, mom." She said.

"Alright, well I'll let you get back to packing." Her mother said as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as her mother was gone, Yuki let the tears fall freely down her face.

Little did she know, her heart's egg was in the beginning stages of becoming an X-Egg.

* * *

"Vice Principal," A little girl said as the Vice Principal and the new teacher passed in the hall. "good morning!"

"Yes, good morning." The Vice Principal said as the new teacher trailing behind him struggled with the large amount of books and binders that he was carrying.

"Wonderful," The new teacher commented. "all the kids are lively and full of energy. I thought I'd have to know all about my students, so I got these documents…" He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before he tripped and fell, causing books and papers to go flying all about the place.

"S-Sensei." The Vice Principal said, unsure if the guy was hurt or not. Luckily, he got up seconds later.

"Ouch." He said. "I messed up."

"A-are you okay?" The Vice principal asked.

"Yes," The new teacher said. "I'm used to falling down." All of the little kids around them broke out into giggles after that. The new teacher just smiled and rubbed the back of his ginger head. Yuki, meanwhile, just remained quiet. When she noticed the teacher staring at her and giving her a creepy smile, she walked away.

* * *

Amu stared at the cork board in disbelief. Apparently, someone had taken a picture of her and Kukai together and blew it up into a poster. Many other girls in the fourth grade class had also gathered around the poster and were already creating gossip about it. The strangest thing was, in the digital age that we live in someone actually thought it was more effective to create a poster than to put the pictures up on something like Facebook or Instagram. In fact, the picture was seemingly a screen shot taken from Snapchat as you could see the time/battery display from the phone at the top of the picture and a black banner reading "OMFG! IT'S LOVE! (=^.^=)" across the lower half of the picture. There was other writing underneath the picture, but Amu didn't want to read it. It was sure to be filled with so much ten-year-old hormonal fueled fluff that it would make her sick.

"That's what we'd expect of you, Hinamori-san!" Manami said.

"You weren't just quick to get the Joker's spot," Wakana said. "you were quick to get Kukai-sama's heart, too!"

"You're so cool!" The two of them cheered at the same time. Profoundly annoyed, Amu grabbed the poster and pulled it of the cork board, crumpled it up, and tossed it behind her.

"How stupid." She said as she walked away. Manami had a huge smile on her face as she caught the crumpled up ball as did Wakana.

"She's 'cool and spicy'!" They mused in unison.

As Amu continued to move down the hall, she heard similar musings from kids of all genders and grade levels. She couldn't help but feel slightly depressed. However, she probably should have been more concerned with the fact that all of these kids admire her no matter what she does.

_I keep changing my personality in front of others._ She thought.

* * *

"What? No way." Amu heard a girl in her class say. She looked up and saw two girls, one with blonde pig tails and the other with a brunette pixie cut staring up at a girl with short green hair in shock. The girl with short green hair (Yuki) looked sad. It was the girl with the brunette pixie cut that had been speaking. "Is that really true Yuki-chan?"

"You're going to transfer all of a sudden," The blonde with pig tails said. "and you're going overseas?"

"Yeah." Yuki said sadly.

"Really?" Another girl from the class walked up and asked.

"Where are you going?" A third girl asked.

"America." Yuki said.

_She's Yuki Hatoba-san, I think._ Amu thought as she watched the scene play out from the door.

"Cheer up!" The brunette with the pixie cut said. "Even if you leave, we'll still be friends!"

"Yeah!" The blonde with pigtails said. "That'll never change."

"Okay." She said quietly with a small nod. As that happened though, within her heart, her egg became marked with an X. It caused her eyes to darken and her demeanor to suddenly change.

"Give us your new info." The brunette with the pixie cut said. "We'll call you."

"Yeah, right." Yuki said, darkness growing in her voice. The brunette with the pixie cut looked shocked. Yuki suddenly pushed all the books off of the desk next to her. "You liar! You'll change! You'll change and forget me!"

"Yuki-chan," The brunette with the pixie cut said in shock. "We'd never."

"That's mean!" The blonde with the pigtails said. "What are you saying?"

Yuki then just sprinted out of the classroom. Someone called after her, but she didn't stop. A few seconds later, Amu saw an X-Egg go whizzing by.

"An X-Egg!" Amu half-exclaimed.

"Amu-chan." Ran said.

"Yeah." Amu said, then ran off in pursuit of the X-Egg. Or at least, she tried to. Once she ran out of the doorway, she plowed straight into someone, sending them both falling to the floor. "Ouch." She muttered. She then realized that the person that she ran into was a teacher and moved so that she was sitting on her knees. "Sorry!"

"No," The teacher, a ginger man with yellow-green eyes and glasses, said. "I should be apologizing." He then got a look of recognition on his face and got really uncomfortably close to Amu. (In a way that **totally** didn't make him look like a pedophile.) "You're Amu Himamori-san, right?"

"What?" Amu said in confusion.

"Oh," Nikaidou said. "are you not Himamori-san? I'm pretty sure the attendance sheets were around here somewhere." He then began looking through the numerous books and papers that had fallen on the floor when he and Amu slammed into each other. Amu just sat there, confused.

"Amu-chan?" Ran said as she floated up next to her. Amu then remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

"Oh, yeah." Amu said as she got up. "Anyway, I'm sorry about that!" She said to the teacher before running off.

"You shouldn't run in the halls, Amu Himamori-san!" The teacher called after her.

* * *

Ikuto jumped from rooftop to rooftop on the Seiyo Academy Campus. In addition to his usual school uniform and the cat ears and tail he gained when he character changed, he now had a bruise on his left cheek and a scratch underneath his right eye.

After he came home empty handed, I got the big heavy wooden bat I keep in my closet and slammed it into his cheek. He took it away from me and I tried to scratch him to get it back, but only landed one successful strike under his eye. He locked both himself and the bat in his room for the rest of the night. For a while, I tried banging on the door and begging for the bat back, but I gave it up around midnight. For all I knew, he wasn't even in his room and he was sleeping on some park bench somewhere.

As he landed on the roof of one of the lower buildings in the complex, he caught sight of Yuki running down one of the many paths. He noticed that she came to an intersection and went straight instead of turning left. The X-Egg followed her not that long afterwards.

"If we don't handle that X-Egg quickly," Yoru said. "we'll get yelled at."

Ikuto then heard footsteps approaching at a high speed. He looked down and saw Amu running into the intersection, look around, and then take the left turn.

"It didn't go that way-nya." Yoru giggled.

* * *

Out of breath, Amu came to a stop somewhere way behind the school. She could have sworn she saw Yuki take the left turn, but apparently not as she had not come across her the entire way down this path. Now, she had no idea where she was or if she was even still on school property. The yellow bricks beneath her feet looked worn and cracked. If she had to take a guess, she'd say that not that many people had gone down this path in a really long time.

As she surveyed the area, she noticed a large, circular building. It had a giant star and moon weather vane on top. Given that the school's symbols were a star and a moon, she figured that she was still on school property and the building either belonged to the high school or the middle school, so it would probably be safe to go inside the building and ask how to get back to the elementary school. From there, maybe she could figure out where Yuki went.

She followed the path she was on, which curved around a wooded area and ended in front of the building. She was disappointed to see that there was a chain blocking off the gap in the brick wall that surrounded the building and allowed people to enter with a sign hanging from it that said: Do not enter. The building also seemed to be in disrepair, with a few of the exterior walls cracked and vines climbing up the sides. On the brick wall, though, there was a plaque that seemed unaffected by the effects of weather and time.

"The Special Resource Wing?" Amu read aloud. "I didn't know that this place even existed."

Although it seemed unlikely, Amu thought of the possibility of Yuki running inside of there to hide. Cautiously, Amu approached the giant double doors, and used her entire body weight to push them open.

"H-Hatoba-san?" She called into the room. She couldn't see anyone in there, only blackness. Slightly frightened, she shut the doors and turned to lean back on them. "I can't! I'm really bad with places like this."

"But we have to look for Yuki-chan." Ran said.

"If you ask me," Miki said. "these places are the most suspicious."

"That might be true, but…" Amu said.

"Then let's do a Chara Nari!" Ran said. "If we Chara Nari, it'll be fine!"

"Oh yeah." Amu said. "If I remember correctly… Transform!" She then made her fingers into the shape of a heart and hoped for something to happen. Unfortunately, all that happened was that she stood there for a few seconds, looking stupid. Her expression soured when she realized she was doing it wrong. "See!" She shouted. "I can't do it!" She then grabbed Ran and began to squeeze her. "Ran, what are you trying to make me do?"

"It's not Ran's fault-desu." Su said.

"It's because you have doubts in your heart." Miki said. Amu looked up in surprise.

"Me?" She said.

"It's okay, Amu-chan!" Ran said after freeing herself from her bearer's grasp. "If you wish to be stronger, then you'll definitely be able to do it again! Amu-chan is up to any challenge, after all."

Amu looked down sadly.

"It's impossible." She said.

"Amu-chan?" Ran said.

"Maybe I might seem like I'm up to any challenge…" Amu said. "I've become a Character Bearer and a Guardian, and now there's Chara Naris… But that's all my outer character taking over. I just wonder where the real me is in all of that. I'm scared of changing. I don't want to change anymore."

As she said that last sentence, she pretty much forced her entire body weight against the door without even noticing and the doors started opening behind her. Because of that, she fell backwards on to the hard ground behind her. Her eyes shut tightly from pain, but when she opened them, she saw something amazing.

"Are you okay, Amu-chan?" Ran asked as she, Miki, and Su floated around her.

Amu broke out into a huge smile.

* * *

"Run faster, everyone!" Kiseki commanded as he and Daichi flew several feet ahead of them. The other four Guardians' Guardian Characters had taken notice of Yuki's X-Egg and began to pursue it as well. Although, they hadn't really clarified why they were running.

"What's going on, anyway?" Yaya asked.

"I felt something bad!" Kiseki said.

"And what was that?" Yaya asked as they all finally came to a stop. All of a sudden, they heard a scream.

"We have to hurry!" Pepe exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Yaya said and the Guardians began to move again.

* * *

Yuki stared at the X-Egg in horror.

"W-what?" Yuki said.

"Do you like English?" A voice coming from the egg said in English. Cracks formed in the shell, and a tiny black Guardian Character with a red X on its head came out. "No, I hate English!"

Yuki suddenly fell to the ground, blacking out just as the Guardians arrived.

"What is that?" Kukai said.

"Do you like English?" The X-Character asked in English again.

"That's so not cute!" Yaya cried.

"Could that be…" Nadeshiko said.

"There's no mistaking it," Tadase said. "That's an X-Character!"

"Destroy!" The X-Character shouted in English and sent a wave of negative energy – taking the form of the letters of the English alphabet – towards the Guardians. They all fought to keep their footing against the energy, but luckily, they didn't fall down. (Well, Yaya fell to her knees, but she didn't let the energy blow her away, which was good.) Once the X-Character finished releasing the energy wave, it took off to go wreak havoc somewhere else.

"Oh-no!" Tadase said. "Fujisaki-san, you and Yuiki-san look after Hatoba-san."

"Okay." Nadeshiko said as Tadase and Kukai took off in the direction the X-Charater went.

* * *

Amu looked up at the pink-orange sky that filled the dome of the building. It looked so amazingly realistic that it was hard to believe that it was a projection caused by the large machine in the center of the room. Clouds slowly floated by so naturally, you could almost feel the breeze running through you hair and the way the light faded made you think you were actually looking at a sunset. It reminded Amu of this one summer when she was little and her family went on a vacation to some beach somewhere and spent one evening watching the sun slowly set in the sky.

"So this was a planetarium." Amu said in amazement.

_It's almost like I've gone to a different world_. She thought.

"The sky's slowly changing color!" Ran exclaimed. Indeed, the pink-orange sky was slowly fading into a deep, dark purple-blue color.

"Oh, it's the first star!" Miki exclaimed as a small white twinkle appeared at the top of the dome.

"It's twinking-desu." Su said.

_How odd. It may change its color, and even look differently, but it's the same sky._

All of the sudden, the heavy doors flew open with a loud bang, causing Amu and all three of her Guardian Characters to jump. She turned to see what looked like a little black Guardian Character with a red X on its head floating in the entryway.

"Do you like English?" The X-Character asked in English.

"Uh," Amu said. Being a native Japanese speaker who had only left the country twice (once to go on vacation to America, another to go to a party hosted by a relative who owned a house in Brittan, and both times being when she was younger than five years old) and as such, knew very little to no English and had no idea what the X-Character was saying. However, she did still attempt to give a response in English regardless. "I am a J-Joker?"

"Mistake!" The X-Character exclaimed in English, causing a wave of energy – once again taking the form of the letters of the English alphabet – to fly towards Amu. Luckily, she thought quickly and was able to dodge it by diving behind one of the plastic seats in the front row.

"Was my English wrong?" Amu wondered aloud. "Wait, what is that?" She peered over the top of the chair to see the X-Character scanning the aisles for her.

"I'm scared." Amu could hear a girl's voice that was clearly Yuki's say. "I don't want to go. I can't learn English. I don't want my friends to change! I don't want to change!"

"Could these be Hatoba-san's…" Amu said, but was cut off by Tadase and Kukai's arrival.

"Hinamori-san!" Tadase exclaimed.

"Tadase-kun." She said. "Kukai."

"Be careful." Tadase warned. "That's an X-Character, born from an X-Egg."

"An X-Character?" Amu questioned.

"Yes," The X-Character said in English. "I am an **X-Character**!" It then sent another wave of energy towards the three, causing them to run and take shelter behind some chairs on the other side of the planetarium.

"Damn it." Kukai muttered under his breath.

"An X-Character?" Amu questioned the two boys. "Then Hatoba-san is…"

"She's okay." Tadase assured. "But if we don't do anything about that X-Character, she'll be in big trouble."

"Hinamori, Chara Nari." Kukai said.

"Please, Hinamori-san." Tadase said.

"But…" Amu said nervously.

"I hate!" The X-Character exclaimed in English, causing the attack to grow stronger. "I hate!"

"I'm scared." Yuki's voice said. "I don't want my friends to change! I don't want to change!"

"Believe in yourself, Amu-chan!" Ran said.

"If you really believe in wanting to change…" Miki started.

"…Then the key in your heart will be released-desu!" Su finished.

Amu didn't say a word, though. She just listened to what Yuki's voice was saying and couldn't help but draw parallels.

"You liar! You'll change!"

_I just wonder where the real me is in all of that._

"I don't want to change!"

_It's impossible._

"I don't want to change!"

_I'm scared of changing. _

"I don't want to change!"

_I don't want to change anymore._

A look of sheer determination crossed Amu's face.

"Just hold on, Hotoba-san," She said. "I'll save you." The Humpty Lock began to glow pink and the correct phrase finally passed through Amu's lips. "My Own Heart: Unlock!" Within a flash, she was no longer wearing her school uniform and was once again the pink cheerleader known as Amulet Heart.

"Go, Hinamori!" Kukai cheered.

Amu used one of the chairs to jump from and attempted to catch the little black Character. Unfortunately for her, the little bugger was quick on its feet and was able to dodge the attack. She attempted to capture it again, but it once again dodged and just to add insult to injury, it kicked her on the top of her head. She went after it a few more times, but it proved to be futile as the X-Character had speed on its side.

"Destroy!" The X-Character shouted in English as it sent another wave of energy towards Amu. This time, she wasn't able to dodge and was sent into one of the walls, luckily she was able to catch herself before she hit the floor.

"Amu-chan," Ran said from within her. "are you okay?"

"Yeah." Amu said. She looked back up at the X-Character and once again heard Yuki's voice.

"I don't want to change! I don't want to change!"

"It's fine!" Amu said. "It's fine to change!" This caught the attention of the X-Character and it looked worried. Amu placed her fingers in the shape of a heart in front of the Humpty Lock. "Negative Heart: Lock on!" A pink beam of energy passed through her fingers, took the heart shape, and started passing though the X-Character. "Open Heart!" With that, the X crumbled off its head, purifying the Guardian Character.

"The X was removed." Amu said in amazement.

"Awesome," Kukai said. "we got it!"

"No," Tadase said. "this is…"

Suddenly, the Character changed from a black, genderless, vaguely humanoid thing to a normal, female Guardian Character dressed like a flight attendant with blonde hair and pink eyes. She looked overjoyed.

"Attention, please." The Guardian Character said in English. She then floated down to Amu. "Thank you, Amu-chan." She reverted to Japanese after that. "Thanks to you, I'm at ease."

"You're who Hatoba-san really wants to be?" Amu asked.

"Yes." The Guardian Character said. "But it'll still be a secret for now. I'll be sleeping for a bit longer, until Yuki-chan realizes it herself." The shell of her white egg appeared around her. "See you again." She said in English before her egg sealed shut and then disappeared, presumably returning to Yuki's heart.

* * *

When Yuki opened her eyes, the first thing that she saw were the puffy white clouds trailing across the bright blue sky. Her gaze slowly drifted to the left and she saw the Queen's Chair Guardian, Nadeshiko Fujisaki smiling down at her.

"You're awake?" Nadeshiko said.

Yuki slowly sat up.

"What am I.." Yuki said. She looked around and saw the other four Guardians standing around her.

"You collapsed here." Nadeshiko said. Yuki just looked slightly confused. Before she could ask more questions, Amu spoke up.

"Are you dumb?" She said in her "cool and spicy" manner while looking at the sky in the opposite direction of Yuki. "No matter how far you go, you'll always be connected under the same sky. Your friends will always be your friends, no matter where you are. Isn't it okay to change?" Yuki looked shocked. Amu turned to her and smiled. "Well, something like that. I was afraid to change, too, you know. Let's get along together, from one scaredy-cat to another. Amu held out her hand to Yuki. Yuki smiled and took it.

"Yeah." She said.

Just then, the bell that announced classes had begun rang.

"Oh crap!" Amu exclaimed. "Class is going to start!"

The Guardians and Yuki dispersed after that, rushing off to their respective classrooms.

* * *

Ikuto, who had been lying on a park bench nearby, overheard everything that was said and had a small smile on his face.

"Don't ask me." Yoru said.

* * *

"While your homeroom teacher is on maternity leave," The new teacher said as he stood at the front of the classroom. His name was apparently Yuu Nikaidou, as he had written it on the board. "I'll be taking over the Fourth Grade Star Class-" He was cut off by the classroom door suddenly sliding open.

"Sorry I'm late!" Amu called out as she rushed into the classroom. Unfortunately, she didn't pay attention and tripped over the raised platform that the teacher's podium was on, and causing her to fall to the ground, knock Nikaidou to the ground as well, and some books and papers to go flying. "This is the second time today." She groaned as she got up. She then suddenly realized who the person she bumped into was. "Oh, I met you before. You're a teacher?"

"Yes," Nikaidou said. "I'm Yuu Nikaidou. Now that I have a chance to greet you properly… Hello, Amu Himamori-san."

"Himamori?" Amu said, wanting to facepalm at the mispronunciation.

"Anyway," Nikaidou said as he tried to get up. "first period's-" He cut himself off when he slipped on a piece of paper, causing him to fall to the ground again. The entire class besides Amu burst into a fit of laughter.

"He's quite the character…" Amu commented.

* * *

The sky had fully darkened and a thousand lights were twinkling brightly in the faux sky as a person walked into the planetarium from the back office. The person looked down at the Joker playing card in their hand.

"So the girl who holds three Guardian Characters has finally appeared." The person said. They then looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "It would seem that the story has just begun."

* * *

**So, as of the time I posted this chapter, this fic is now officially two years old and I am now nineteen. (I first posted this fic on the Hi no Nami Blogspot on December Tenth, Twenty-thirteen and my birthday is December Sixteenth.) So yeah, big milestones we just went through. Big... Scary... Milestones... GOD DAMN I'M GETTING OLD! I DON'T WANT TO DIE YET! PLEASE, SOMEONE FIGURE OUT THE SECRET TO IMMORTALITY!**

**Yeah, to be honest, I don't really have that much to say about this chapter. I'm just happy to have it done so that way I can start working on Chapter Four of _Black Diamond_. Maybe I'll have more to say next time I re-write a chapter in this fic because I still have to figure out what I'm gonna have Marceline do next time. (I think I might go with the idea I had the first time I wrote that chapter, but I'm not sure.)**

**Just be aware that if you're reading this before I get a chance to re-write the first two parts of this story that everything until you hit part three is going to be shit. You have been warned.**

* * *

**Uploaded to FFN on 12/18/15 **


	7. Geniuses are Born Geniuses

**Happy Leap Day!**

**"Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Featuring Ray Dalton**

* * *

"Well then," Nikaidou said after the morning announcements had finished. "I'll be taking attendance." He then began looking around at the multitude of books on top of his desk, and suddenly looked confused. "Huh, where's the attendance sheet?" He then began dissecting the book piles, trying to find the attendance sheet within them. Unfortunately, as he did so, he bumped a particularly tall book tower with his elbow, causing it to topple begin to topple over. He tried to catch the tower before it fell over, but ended up losing his footing and flipped over the desk, landing on his butt. The entire class broke out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter (Because being a bumbling idiot is comedic gold for some reason.), except for Amu, who just glared at him with annoyance.

"He's a pretty clumsy teacher." She muttered to herself.

"Well," Nikaidou said as he got up from the ground. "I guess this is what you would call a lucky mistake, since I found the attendance sheet." The class continued to laugh; Amu just gave an uncomfortable grin. "Anyway, I'll take attendance now." He said, and then began reading off the list of names. Amu then her head to stare absentmindedly out the window.

Even though it had been a little over two weeks since she first got her Guardian Characters, Amu still couldn't help but reflect on how much her life had changed in such a short time. She particularly focused on what happened with Yuki just two days earlier.

"X-Eggs." She said to herself. "X-Characters. Chara Nari." She sighed and looked down at her desk. "There's a lot going on, isn't there?"

"Himamori-san?" Amu could vaguely hear the teacher saying through her own thoughts. "Amu Himamori-san?"

"Hey, Amu-chan," Ran said as she tapped Amu on the arm with one of her pom-poms. "He's calling you." Amu looked up in slight confusion.

"Are you there, Himamori-san?" Nikaidou said as he scanned the sea of children. Amu sprung up in annoyance.

"It's not 'Hima'," Amu said. "It's 'Hinamori'!"

"Sorry about that, Himamori-san." Nikaidou said, making it obvious that he was calling her that on purpose.

A look of contempt crossed Amu's face.

* * *

"What the heck is wrong with that teacher?" Amu questioned aloud as she walked through the hallway, enraged that he had called her nothing but "Himamori-san" all day. "Isn't that harassment?" Not really. According to Anita Sarkeesian, harassment is when a bunch of people on Twitter try to call you out on the chauvinistic agenda you try to purport and it makes you "feel bad", so you go to the UN with your sob story and claim that it makes you feel "violated" and that "someone needs to protect all women from the horrible misogyny that exists online and keep them from getting raped over the internet". No, but seriously real harassment is like someone stalking you, someone touching you when/where you don't want to be touched, and other things of that nature. A teacher calling you by the wrong name (even intentionally) does not count.

"It is rather funny, though-desu." Su said.

"No, it's not!" Amu exclaimed, scaring Su a bit. In fact, she began to cry as Amu turned the corner to go down the staircase. As she did so, she saw Kukai rushing down from the stairs that led to the roof access doors (No idea why he was up there.).

"Oh, Kukai." Amu said as he turned to go down the stairs that led to a landing, which led to another set of stairs which led to the first floor. He stopped to turn and look at her.

"Hey, Hinamori." Kukai said. "Not much going on?" Amu's face turned red with frustration when he said this. If you're confused, in Japanese, Kukai said "Hima sou da na?" "Hima" in this context translates to "free time" (I translated it as "Not much going on?" because that just feels like that's more like something he'd say.) and obviously the "Hima" part is what got Amu upset. Before she could properly respond, though, Kukai had he'd see her around and sped off down the stairs again.

"I'm not 'Hima', shesh…" Amu muttered to herself.

"Amu-chan." Amu heard someone directly behind her say, causing her heart to skip a beat in fear and her to jump down the three remaining steps, onto the landing below. Luckily, she didn't fall to hard or hurt herself. She turned to look and saw Nadeshiko coming down the steps towards her.

"Y-you scared me." Amu stuttered.

"She used the same trick again." Miki said, remembering the events of the tart incident.

"If you have some free time," Nadeshiko said. "Why don't we go and check out the boys' soccer team's practice?"

"Soccer?" Amu questioned.

"Let's go, Amu-chan!" Ran cheered.

"You know," Miki said. "If you have 'free time', that is."

"She's 'Hima', alright-desu…" Su said.

"You guys…" Amu muttered.

* * *

When Amu and Nadeshiko arrived, the practice was already underway with several boys wearing blue pinnies over an all-white soccer uniform ran up and down the field, chasing after a red-and-white striped ball. Several students had gathered to watch the team play, including a group of girls who were holding up a banner that had Kukai's name on it.

"So Kukai's the soccer team's captain?" Amu said, as she watched the boys play in amazement. She looked around the field for Kukai, but couldn't find him.

"You're late, Souma." Amu heard someone nearby say and turned to look and saw the gym teacher for the lower grades' male students (who also just so happened to be the coach of the boys' soccer team) calling out to Kukai, who was running over to where the coach and a few other players were standing. As he ran up, the girls holding up the banner squealed.

"Sorry!" Kukai said as he came to a stop in front of the coach. He flashed a smile over at the girls and they squealed even more.

"He's quite popular, isn't he?" Amu observed.

"Oh?" Nadeshiko said. "Amu-chan, are you jealous?"

"As if I would be!" Amu exclaimed, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. Nadeshiko giggled and Amu turned her attention back to the game.

"Yamada," Kukai called out to another player on the field after having a brief chat with the coach. "Change with me!"

"No problem," Yamada said. "I'll go sub." A timeout was then called and Yamada took off his pinny and went over to hand it to Kukai.

"Your last pass was pretty awesome, Yamada." Kukai said.

"You might be in trouble as a regular." Yamada said in a good-natured way. The two boys then high fived and went their separate ways. Kukai headed towards one side of the field and Yamada went towards the other. Amu saw this and turned to Nadeshiko with a look of confusion.

"They're switching?" Amu questioned.

"The ones wearing the blue pinnys are regulars." Nadeshiko said.

"What about the ones who are only wearing their uniforms?" Amu asked.

"They're substitutions." Miki said.

"That is just so sad-desu." Su said.

"That's how it goes." Nadeshiko said. They then turned their attention back to the game.

Kukai had the ball, but Yamada was trying to get it away from him. Using some swift footwork, Kukai attempted to pass the ball to another boy wearing a blue pinny, but another kid from the substitute's team stopped him by head-butting the ball. The ball then went out of bounds and rolled towards Amu.

"Hey, Hinamori," Kukai called out. "Could you get the ball?"

"S-sure." Amu said. She then got up and prepared to kick the ball. "Here it goes!"

"Uh," Kukai said. "You can just throw it with your hands."

However, Amu didn't hear him and proceeded to kick the ball. Unbeknownst to her, though, as she kicked the ball, Ran caused her to Character Change, causing Amu to kick the ball straight into the Pinnies team's goal. Everyone store at the net with mouths agape. However, Kukai looked impressed and pointed at her.

"Switch in!" He called out. (Wait, are girls even allowed to switch in on a boys' team? I mean, this is a practice game, so it probably doesn't matter, but still.) Amu didn't seem to have any qualms with it (though that may have been the Character Change talking) and eagerly joined the substitute's team.

Despite not being dressed properly to play the game, Amu was doing quite well, having gotten past the majority of pinnies team players easily. Word spread fast and before too long, many students had gathered to see the famed "athlete" Amu Hinamori play soccer. There were even a few kids who had already gone home and changed out of their school clothes who came back to watch her play.

"I never imagined I'd get to see Hinamori-senpai's beautiful moves out here." Suzuki (Amu's fan) said as loudly as possible. In fact, he was so loud that Amu could hear him from all the way across the field. "Lucky I was passing by!"

"Hinamori," Amu heard Kukai call out as he caught up to her and ran alongside her. "You Character Changed, didn't you?"

He tried to kick the ball out from underneath Amu, however, jumped up in the air to kick the ball in a manner similar to a scene from _The Matrix_, where Trinity kicked that cop who was trying to arrest her in the chest and sent him and the cop that was standing behind into the wall. (Look it up on You Tube. It's the first fight scene in the first movie, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.)

"That's not fair!" Kukai shouted.

"I'm not the one doing it!" Amu protested.

After having successfully gotten past Kukai, Amu continued to move down the field with the ball. Although it was the Character Change doing most of the work, Amu couldn't help but feel some enjoyment from this.

_Though this might be kind of fun!_ She thought as a small smile broke out on her face.

"Of course," Amu could hear her fanboy exclaiming from the crowd. "This is exactly what you'd expect from the girl who singlehandedly defeated Sakura Elementary's soccer team." Let me just clarify that she didn't actually do that. She was on her way out of school, happened to be passing by the soccer field, someone kick the ball way too hard out of bounds and it bounced off of Amu's head and into the goal. The rumor mill just blew it up to be bigger than it was. However, Suzuki didn't know that and took Amu's performance as absolute proof that it was true. He then seemingly got a flag with Amu's face on it out of nowhere and began using it to cheer for Amu.

Meanwhile, on the field, Kukai was filled with determination as he chased after Amu.

"Kukai." He could hear Daichi fly up beside him and say. "In that case, we should Character Change, too."

"I won't Character Change." Kukai said. "Even if I don't…" He trailed off as he increased speed to catch up to Amu.

"Seriously?" Amu said as he pulled up alongside her.

"We won't lose!" Ran said.

"Neither will we!" Daichi said.

Kukai then sped up and blocked Amu's path. Amu tried to turn to go around him, but he blocked her again. She tried to look for an opening, but couldn't find one.

"Hinamori," Amu heard someone say. She glanced over and saw Yamada running by. "Over here."

"Yamada!" Kukai said as Amu saw an opening and passed the ball to Yamada, who was quickly approaching the goal.

"Shoot!" Amu and Ran cried in unison.

Yamada did as they said and shot the ball towards the goal. However, the goalie easily blocked it. Yamada looked distraught as he saw this.

"Clear it!" Kukai said as he jumped up to kick the ball.

"I won't let you!" Amu cried as she jumped as well.

Although they both jumped pretty high, Kukai didn't seem to be able to jump high enough and Amu beat him to the ball. She did a mid-air backflip and kicked the ball as hard as she could towards the goal, and nearly everyone was in disbelief as she did so. Once again, though, the goalie caught the ball as she landed on the ground. A collective groan of disappointment was let out by the crowd. Amu, however, smirked. The goalie hadn't expected that the ball would still be spinning at a high speed like a truck tire stuck in the mud. After a few second of spinning rapidly in his hands, the momentum of the ball caused him to flip backwards into the net, scoring a goal for the substitutes' team. (Which shouldn't have been possible…? Can we get the Myth Busters on this one?) The crowd burst out into cheers and chants of Amu's name.

"We did it!" Amu and Ran exclaimed in unison.

"Well, nice going." Kukai said to Amu in a good-natured manner.

"Hinamori-san," Yamada said as he ran up to her. "Nice shot!" He then high-fived her.

"Thanks." Amu said with a smile.

"I guess I have more practicing to do." Yamada said as he wiped off his face. Amu smiled and nodded in agreement.

* * *

From there on, practice went on as usual. Amu returned to her spot next to Nadeshiko and watched the rest of the game. Thanks to her goal, it ended in a victory for the substitute's team. After the game had ended and the crowd had dispersed, Amu and Nadeshiko hung back to wait for Kukai so that they could all walk home together. The soccer players had gathered together in front of their coach for the team meeting. Amu and Nadeshiko stood a bit away from them, but close enough to hear what they were talking about.

"At long last," The coach said. "We'll be having our practice match with Seifuu Academy. Since its Seifuu we're up against, we can't overdo it. We'll play by the book, and we'll win."

"Seifuu Academy?" Amu questioned.

"You haven't heard of it?" Nadeshiko said. "They're known for their soccer team. They even took first place in the national championship last year."

"Wow." Amu said in amazement.

"Anyway," The coach continued on. "I'll announce who'll be going up against Seifuu." He then looked down at this clipboard and began reading off names. "Goalie: Hara. Defenders: Ishimori, Kamiyama, Itou, and Nakamura. Midfielders: Takaki, Oda, and Yamamoto. Up front will be Souma."

"Alright!" Kukai cheered. The girls holding up the banner with his name on it (who had hung back as well) began rabidly fangirling over the announcement.

"And lastly," The coach continued on, ignoring the outburst. "The forwards: Kobayashi and Sato. That's all."

As everyone excitedly got up and began chatting with their friends about the upcoming game, Yamada just sat there, eyes shimmering with tears.

* * *

"Isn't that wonderful, Souma-kun." Nadeshiko said as she, Kukai, and Amu walked down Route Six. Although Nadeshiko lived to the north west of the school and Kukai just lived a little bit over the Toride-Moriya town line, they decided to walk Amu home, at least part of the way.

"Of course." Kukai said. "I am the captain, after all."

Amu giggled and smiled, but it quickly faded once she remembered that Yamada didn't get a position in the game.

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Nadeshiko asked once she noticed her friend's long face.

"Oh, nothing." Amu said.

"You hungry?" Kukai asked.

"No!" Amu exclaimed. Nadeshiko giggled at this. Amu then took a few steps ahead of them. "Anyway, this is where I leave."

"Come watch our game tomorrow." Kukai said. Amu gave out a groan like "Do I really have to?" causing him to glare at her. "What's up with that?"

"I'm just kidding." Amu said with a smile. "I'll go. Later." She then took off down the alleyway that led to her neighborhood, leaving Kukai to try and hold back his frustration and Nadeshiko giggling.

* * *

As Amu made her way home, she passed the bridge that led to Abiko and was the only way into town from the south. Although she was used to hearing numerous cars and trucks fly by as she walked past, she wasn't used to the sound of a ball hitting concrete. She looked over her shoulder and saw Yamada kicking a ball at a goal he had drawn onto one of the bridge's support pillars with chalk.

"It's Yamada-kun!" Ran said.

"He's practicing by himself." Miki observed.

"He sure tries really hard-desu." Su said.

"Is he an idiot?" Amu said. "He's not even playing in the match tomorrow."

"It's even more impressive that he's practicing even when he's not going to be playing." Miki said.

Amu thought about this for a second and then turned to look at Yamada, who was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.

"Good luck." Miki said.

"Good luck!" Ran said.

"Good luck-desu." Su said.

Amu turned to look back at him one last time, and then continued on her way down the road.

"Good luck." She whispered.

She never noticed the figure watching them from the bridge.

* * *

"Thanks for the food!" Amu and her family said as they dug into their meal. As usual, they had Noboko Saeki's talk show playing on the television, and once again as the show came back from commercial break, Amu was caught off guard by the fortune teller's booming voice.

"It's with you!" The psychic exclaimed, causing Amu to nearly drop her bowl. She glanced over at the TV and saw Noboko talking with a blond man. "I guess a genius would have a genius guardian spirit with them!"

"Genius?" The man said. "I'm nothing like that."

"Who is dat guy?" Ami leaned over the table and asked. "He's cool!"

"Ami, you mustn't," Amu's father exclaimed. "Not a guy like that!"

"He's Singo Okada," Amu's mother said with stars in her eyes. "Also known as 'Okashin'. While working as a charismatic musician, the novel he wrote won all of the amateur writers' awards. He's an extremely popular, genius artist!"

Amu hummed in response, then turned back to the TV.

"You definitely have a genius Guardian Spirit with you." Noboko said. "Geniuses are born with the ability to be geniuses! And compared to him… All of you are just ordinary." She said, pointing not only at the camera but also the crew behind the camera. "And though I hate to say it, your Guardian Spirits are just as ordinary. No matter how much a normal person might try, they'll never be a genius."

"Come now," the blonde man said. "That's not true."

* * *

Yamada had also been watching Noboko's broadcast and flipped it off after she made her speech about geniuses. He picked up one of his soccer cleats and looked down forlornly at it as he began to polish it.

* * *

After dinner, Amu collapsed on to her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about what Noboko said.

"'No matter how much a normal person might try, they'll never be a genius.'" Amu repeated, thinking back on how hard Yamada was practicing under the bridge. "I wonder if that's really true."

* * *

Tears began to stain Yamada's face. Though, he didn't notice until one dripped down onto his cleats. He sniffled a little as he tried to wipe them away. However, that wasn't enough to calm him down. He ended up throwing the shoes away and fell asleep crying into his pillow.

"It's true." Nikaidou said as he stood outside of Yamada's house. "It's wasted effort."

* * *

"It's with you!" I almost threw the knife I was using to cut up my pancakes at the TV. Sarah, Akiko, Chouko, Kimura, Hideyoshi, Shizuka Oshiro, and I were all having food from the Denny's up the street and had the television tuned to Sakura TV. I normally didn't watch this channel as I did not like some of the tactics they used to get ratings, so henceforth I wasn't expecting the talk show host's voice to be so loud.

"Jesus Christ," I muttered. "That scared the living crap out of me."

"Sorry," Akiko said as she picked up the remote and pointed it at the television. "I watch a lot. I should've known to turn the volume down."

"It's fine." I said as Noboko's voice went down to a tolerable level. "Just wasn't expecting it."

Despite the fact that the woman's voice scared the daylights out of me, I was slightly intrigued as to what this show was about and continued to watch it. I listened to her whole speech about how only geniuses have genius guardian spirits and how the rest of us are all ordinary, and to be honest, I kind of agreed. Well, not about the whole "only geniuses are born geniuses" thing, because I do believe that depending on what it is you're setting out to do, with enough hard work and dedication you can become whatever you want to be. (I mean, come on! Do you think I mastered archery overnight?)

No, the thing I agreed with was how everyone is just ordinary. I honestly believe that needed to be said. A lot of people believe that they are special and that no one else on the planet is like them, but sadly, that isn't true. Many people live the same exact life as someone else and are easily replaceable and people just need to accept that, particularly the "special snowflakes" that exist on Tumblr.

However, just as the guest was about to interrupt her, Shizuka picked up the remote and flipped it to MTV.

"Why are we watching this?" She said as she changed channels. "It's crap."

"Oh, and a television show about attention whores from New Jersey is better?" I asked sarcastically.

"At least, we're not watching some bitch talk down to people on national TV." Shizuka said. "How did she even get a TV show?"

"Well, it is Sakura TV." Sarah said. "They're willing to put on anything just for ratings. Remember that time when they aired six straight hours of a chimp trying to resuscitate its dead mother?"

"Oh, yeah," Hideyoshi agreed. "That was just terrible."

"That was so heartbreaking!" Akiko cried. "The poor baby!"

"Although, I guess that bitch did have a point." Sarah said. "Not everyone can be a genius. It takes a lot of hard work and stuff to get your IQ up that high. Not everyone is willing to put in that kind of effort."

"Says the girl who's paying someone who's had no formal education to do her homework for her." I said.

"Well, that's different." She said.

"How?" I said.

"I'm rich and pretty." She said. "I don't need to be smart."

With that, I let out an exasperated sigh and went back to eating my pancakes.

* * *

The next day was bright and clear, perfect weather for playing an outdoor sport. Many students had gathered out by the soccer field. It being Saturday, the students had a half-day so many of them brought lunches with them to eat while they watched the game. Some even brought big lunches to share with friends. One student, however, took it to the extreme, having brought rare and expensive delicacies from around the world to share with the person she thought to be the love of her life, and that student was Sayaa Yamabuki.

"This is the 'wonderful lunch' I've made for you to eat, Tadase-sama." Sayaa announced. "It's Sayaa's Special!" Many students gaped in amazement at the incredible food as Sayaa carried on with stars in her eyes. "If Tadase-sama eats this, it will get him to notice me! Then the two of us will fall in love!" Unable to contain her excitement, she picked up her tray and ran over to where Tadase and the other Guardians were sitting. "Tadase-sama!" She exclaimed. However, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the Guardians picking food out of a large an elaborate bento box.

"This is good." Tadase said as he turned to Nadeshiko. "Did you make all of this, Fujisaki-san?"

"Yes," Nadeshiko said. "That's right."

Sayaa's jaw went slack. Upon seeing her freeze up, the chefs that actually prepared the food ran up to her.

"Are you okay?" One of the chefs asked her.

"Don't worry!" Another one said.

"The food was perfect." A third one assured.

The Guardians, however, didn't notice Sayaa or her chefs at all and continued eating their lunch like nothing was going on next to them. Yaya was rifling through the box and broke out into a huge smile upon finding something inside it.

"It's caramel!" She exclaimed, holding up a small box of caramel candies. She then ripped the top of the box open and began eating the candy inside.

"Yaya," Amu said, in a scolding tone. "Eat your deserts after you eat your lunch! You'll get fat!"

"That's okay with me!" Yaya said happily.

"Oh, it's starting." Nadeshiko said.

Everyone then turned their attention to the field. They saw the Seifuu team (in red and gold uniforms) and the Seiyo team (in blue and white uniforms) walking side-by-side towards the field. They caught a glimpse of Kukai as he walked by and saw him wave to them.

"Hi, Kukai!" Yaya said as she waved her arms up and down. The mere mention of his name, though, caused the girls who were holding up the banner the day before to suddenly appear behind them and scream is name at the top of their lungs.

Meanwhile, the two teams lined up at the center of the field and bowed to each other.

"Good luck!" Both groups of boys said, before taking their respective positions on their respective sides of the field. With a blow of the whistle, the game began and Seiyo immediately took possession of the ball. Many people in the crowd began cheering.

"Soma-kun!" Tadase exclaimed.

"Kukai, fight!" Yaya cheered.

Out of nowhere, flowers appeared in Nadeshiko's hair and she stood up.

"What're you spacing out for?" She viciously shouted. "You're supposed to give it your all in the first second!"

Amu let out an uncomfortable laugh at this before turning back to the field. She quickly looked around and saw Yamada sitting sadly at the sidelines.

* * *

"Soccer's pretty nice." Nikaidou said as he observed the game from the top of a hill. "Everyone has a lot of energy." He then turned his sights towards the boy sitting on the sidelines.

* * *

Yamada watched sadly as Kukai blocked the ball from going into the Seiyo team's goal. He hated this. He hated sitting on the sidelines while the rest of his friends got to play.

_I won't be going out there, so it doesn't matter to me whether we win or lose._ He thought. _It doesn't have anything to do with me. No matter how much I practice, or how hard I try, I'll never be at the top._

The shrieks of the crowd as Kukai tripped and fell to the ground snapped him out of it.

"What am I thinking?" Yamada said aloud in frustration. He quickly got up began walking away from the field.

* * *

Amu kept her eyes on Yamada as he walked away, even getting up and turning around when he began to walk in the opposite direction of which she was facing. Tadase quickly noticed this.

"What's wrong, Hinamori-san?" He asked.

"Uh," Amu said. "I'll be back in a second." She then took off in the same direction as Yamada.

"Hinamori-san?" Tadase called after her in concern, but she just kept running.

She didn't stop running until she turned a corner around the side of the school and slammed straight into Nikaidou. She let out a gasp of surprise.

"Oh," Nikaidou said. "It was just you, Himamori-san."

"It's Hinamori!" Amu exclaimed in annoyance.

"You're not going to watch the soccer game?" Nikaidou said.

"Sorry," Amu said. "I'm in a hurry." She then started running in the direction she thought she saw Yamada go.

"It just makes you smile," Nikaidou said. "Watching how hard everyone's trying." Amu stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him. "Their dream is to represent Japan in an international tournament or something like that. But it's impossible, of course. I mean, if you look at the probabilities, they're only a handful of people who can fulfill their dreams. If you look at it realistically, that is."

A look of distaste crossed Amu's face. She would have said something, but she remembered that she needed to find Yamada, so she turned and walked away.

"Excuse me." She said as she stormed off.

_What was that?_ She thought as she ran. _Now I've lost sight of Yamada-kun._

"Amu-chan," Ran said, pointing to a small gazeebo just a few feet ahead. "He's over that way."

"You can tell?" Amu said. She caught sight of Yamada sitting forlornly under the gazeebo as she ran over.

"Kukai's really awesome." Yamada said as she approached. "Someone like me will never…"

"Something seems wrong." Ran remarked.

"Yeah-desu." Su agreed.

"I'm getting a bad feeling." Miki said.

"Kukai missed his shot." Yamada said, recalling something that happened earlier in the game. "We lost the first goal. It doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with me. It doesn't matter!"

All of a sudden, an X-Egg appeared in the air and Yamada slumped over sideways on the bench he was sitting on.

"It's an X-Egg!" Amu exclaimed.

"So his heart's egg was weak!" Ran said.

Suddenly, the words "kick off" were heard coming from the X-Egg. Cracks began to appear in the egg and an X-Character popped out. A mischievous smile was on its face as it came out.

"Shoot!" It exclaimed. "Pass, pass, pass, pass."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the game, Tadase suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong, Tadase?" Yaya asked.

"The way Hinamori-san was acting worries me." He said.

"Me, too." Nadeshiko said.

With no other words exchanged between them, Nadeshiko and Tadase took off running in the direction they saw Amu go. Yaya quickly got up and followed them.

* * *

"Hat trick!" The X-Character exclaimed as it kicked several balls of energy towards Amu.

"What's going on here?" Amu said in confusion as the balls came flying at her. Eventually, she realized that she was about to get hit and dodged the shots.

"Hinamori-san!" She heard Tadase call. She looked over and saw him, Nadeshiko, and Yaya running towards her.

"You guys!" She said.

Just as the other three Guardians reached her, the X-Character began to shoot more balls of energy at her. Fortunately, they were all able to dodge. Although it failed at hitting anyone, the X-Character still laughed malignantly at this. As it did so, Yamada's voice could be heard speaking.

"I don't really care about this match!" He said. "It doesn't matter how hard I try, I won't be put into the game!"

Amu grit her teeth upon hearing this.

"Are you dumb?" She said as she got up from the ground. "That's so stupid!"

"Amu-chan!" Ran said.

"Yeah." Amu said. A pink glow began to emanate from the lock and Amu said the words that were starting to come naturally to her. "My Own Heart! Unlock!"

With a flash of pink light, Amu was Amulet Heart.

"I saw you practicing on the river bank even though you weren't chosen to be a player." Amu said. "I guess I was a total idiot for thinking that you kind of had it together."

"That's a lie!" Yamada's voice exclaimed. "You don't think I have talent, either."

The X-Character began shooting balls of energy again, but Amu just jumped up towards it, dodging energy balls as she went.

"Others don't get to decide whether or not you have talent!" Amu exclaimed. "What can you do if you don't believe in yourself?"

"Red card!" The X-Character exclaimed in frustration, shooting a large ball of energy at her.

"Jeez," Amu said. "I'm getting pissed!" A pair of dark pink pom-poms then appeared in Amu's hands and she used them to deflect the attack. "Don't X yourself out like that!"

Those words caught the X-Character off guard and Amu used this as an opportunity to purify it.

"Negative Heart: Lock On!" She said as she held her fingers up in a heart-shape. "Open Heart!" Energy came out of the lock and passed through Amu's fingers. The X-Character was hit dead-on with it and quickly reverted back to its normal state. It became a male Guardian Character with brown hair and blue eyes and wearing a blue and gold soccer uniform and a soccer ball hairclip in its hair.

"Obligado, Amu-chan." The Guardian Character said.

"You're who Yamada wants to be?" Amu asked with a smile on her face.

"Yeah." He said. "I love soccer." He then gave a wink as the shell of his egg surrounded him. "Ciao." The egg then sealed shut and flew back to Yamada's heart.

* * *

"Change in players!" Everyone could hear the coach announcing from where they stood by the gazeebo. "Yamada, switch in for Sato!" Amu (who had changed back to normal) was about to panic when Yamada got up from where he was lying on the bench.

"Huh," He said. "Hinamori-san?"

"No time to be confused." Amu quickly said. "You're switching in!"

"Switching?" Yamada questioned. "Why? What was I doing?"

"What do you mean?" Amu said. "Your X-Chara-" She quickly caught herself before she made herself out to be a crazy person. Yamada noticed, though.

"X-Character?" He questioned. "What's that?"

"Well," Amu said, trying to think of a way to explain away what she said. "You see." She then felt someone place something in her hand. She looked down at her hand to see it was one of the wrapped caramel candies Yaya was eating earlier. She quickly came up with an idea and held out the candy to Yamada. "I said caramel. If you eat something sweet, maybe you'll feel better?"

"Sh-she tricked him with a pun?" Nadeshiko said quietly, astonished.

"Nice, Su!" Ran and Miki said, giving Su thumbs up, indicating that it was her idea.

"It was nothing really-desu." Su said.

Although it was a rather lame pun, Yamada still laughed and accepted the caramel from Amu.

"I don't quite get it," Yamada said. "But thank you."

Amu let out a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but feel slightly humiliated.

_He must think I'm weird._ She thought.

* * *

"Yamada," The coach said as Yamada laced up his cleats. "This is our last chance! If the ball comes to you, shoot it without hesitation!"

"Right!" Yamada said.

"Do your best." The coach said.

Yamada nodded and took his place on the field next to Kukai.

"Don't let the goalie knock it away this time." Kukai turned to Yamada and said. "Go at it like when you practice on the river bank. It'll work out that way." A look of surprise crossed Yamada's freckled face.

"Wh-why do you know that?" He asked.

"All of us know about it." Kukai said with a big grin on his face.

"Let's finish up this last bit!" One of the other players exclaimed.

"Let's go, Yamada!" Another one said.

Yamada smiled.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed.

The referee blew his whistle and the game resumed. The Guardians finally arrived back at the soccer field around this time.

"So they're only one point behind?" Nadeshiko said.

"They're in trouble!" Yaya exclaimed.

"How much time do they have left?" Amu asked.

"There isn't even one minute remaining." Tadase said.

Kukai had control of the ball. As he ran towards Seifuu's goal, four players clad in red and gold surrounded him. He quickly looked for an opening and someone to pass the ball to. He quickly caught sight of Yamada running up the field and kicked the ball through an opening between to players, sending the ball flying to Yamada.

Yamada gained control of the ball and quickly ran up the field with it. As he approached the goal, he put everything he had into one kick and the ball went sailing into the opposing team's net, tying the game. The crowd broke out in cheers.

* * *

"We did it." Kukai said as he and Yamada store up at the score board in amazement. "Thanks to your goal, we tied with Seifuu Academy. The Seifuu that won Nationals, that is."

"It was because you made a nice pass." Yamada said.

Kukai smiled and he and Yamada grabbed each other's hands in a show of good sportsmanship.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Guardians looked on at this. Amu seemed especially interested in this, considering she had stars in her eyes. (I think she might have been thinking something different than everyone else looking at this scene.)

"It's like a friendship between two men-desu." Su, who also had stars in her eyes said. (I guess she represents Amu's yaoi shipper side.)

"You're right!" Amu said.

"Kukai." Yamada said, causing Amu and Su to grin in anticipation. "Punch me." Amu and Su's faces dropped. "I thought you guys should just lose the match, since I couldn't play. Please hit me!"

"What are you talking about?" Amu rushed over and said. "Kukai, say something to him."

Kukai just looked at Yamada dead on and said: "I understand."

"Not that!" Amu exclaimed.

Kukai didn't hear her, though and slammed his right fist straight into Yamada's cheek. Yamada fell to the ground, blood gushing out of his nose.

"You actually punched him!" Amu exclaimed in shock.

"That's a friendship between two men." Yaya said.

"I wonder about that." Nadeshiko said.

Tadase just giggled uncomfortably.

"You should have held back a bit!" Yamada shouted as he got up from the ground. "My parents don't even hit me!"

"Shut up!" Kukai said. "As Captain, I won't allow such soft thinking!"

"Hey, stop it!" Amu shouted as she attempted to break up the fight, which eventually ended with everyone having a good laugh about it.

* * *

**So, yeah. Sorry, it took so long to get a chapter out. I do have a chapter of _Black Diamond _done, however since most of the chapter took place on Marceline's birthday (May Tenth), I'm waiting until then to publish the chapter. I am going to still be working on _Black Diamond_ until then, so don't worry. I'll also still be updating this (ever so slowly) in the meantime, so you'll have something to keep you entertained until then.**

**So... I know this might not be the proper place to do this, but if you live in a Super Tuesday State like I do and you're over eighteen (or going to be over eighteen before November Seventh,) and you support Bernie Sanders, PLEASE go out and vote tomorrow. I really want Bernie to be the nominee. He'll freaking OWN Trump. Just please go out and vote! Thank you.**

**Now, disregarding all of that, I really don't have much to say about this chapter (other than the fact that the ending of this episode proves that Amu is a bit of a yaoi shipper), mostly because it was boring and didn't add anything to the plot and I couldn't come up with anything other than what I already had for Marceline to do in this chapter, so I'm just gonna end it here. Thank you for reading.**

**Just to note here, though, if you're reading this before I've updated the rest of the story, just know that everything you read from here until Part III is going to be complete crap. You have been warned.**

* * *

**This chapter was uploaded to FFN on 2/29/16.**


	8. Amulet Spade

**I wrote this all in just the span of two days... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.**

**"Blue Moon" by Nana Mizuki**

* * *

Tadase sighed as he and the rest of the Guardians looked upon the pile of completed paperwork they had accumulated with exhaustion. Well, Tadase, Nadeshiko, and Amu didn't seem that exhausted, but Yaya and Kukai were absolutely beat.

"We managed to finish cleaning up all the documents somehow." Tadase said.

"It's always really bad." Nadeshiko remarked.

"I'm tired." Kukai groaned.

"The Guardians' work can be kind of boring," Amu said. "But it's also really hectic, huh?"

"Yes," Tadase said. "Though you stuck with us through it all. Sorry about that."

"Yeah," Kukai said. "Since you're the Joker."

"No," Amu said modestly. "I'm not really doing anything special."

"Oh," Nadeshiko said. "But the tea you made is lovely." Amu smiled at Nadeshiko's compliment, as it had been the first time she had made tea by herself. Before she could thank her, though, the Ace began emitting a dark aura.

"Snacks." Yaya whined. "I want to eat snacks!"

"Sorry," Nadeshiko said a little taken aback by Yaya's tone. "I didn't prepare any for today."

A look of disappointment crossed Yaya's face and for a second it looked like she might throw a temper tantrum. Amu moved to stand behind Yaya and almost begged for her to stay with them. However, after a few seconds an idea came to Yaya's mind and her expression changed to a cheerful one.

"Then let's go get some Ice Cream." She said. "There's a really great place near my house." Just to note, her house is in Kitasoma, a town that borders Toride. Although it's only about a three mile walk from her house to the school it's kind of a bit out of the way for the other Guardians. Well, mostly for Nadeshiko and Tadase who live in the northwestern part of Toride, and Kukai who lives in Moriya which borders Toride on the other side. So, this Ice Cream place would only be convenient for her, and maybe Amu, who lives near the Toride-Kitasoma border. Plus, it was the first week of first week of November, so it wasn't the best weather for ice cream.

"Sorry," Nadeshiko said as she took her last sip of tea. "I have dance practice today."

"I've got soccer practice." Kukai said.

"I have something I need to do, too." Tadase said.

Then the three of them got up and began walking towards the doors.

"See you!" They called over their shoulders.

For a second, it again looked like Yaya was going to cry from the abandonment. Although it took her a second to catch on, Amu realized that the other Guardians were politely ditching Yaya (Although it was true that Nadeshiko and Kukai both had to go to their respective practices, Tadase's was obviously a vague excuse.) and quickly realized that she should probably go, too.

"I," She said. "Uh, guess I should get going, too."

All of a sudden Yaya grabbed Amu's hand. Amu saw stars in her eyes.

"Let's go together." Yaya said. "Amu-chi, you have time, right?"

Amu looked completely distressed as she tried to think of something to say.

* * *

Mimiko Hitsujita's ballet school was located in a business complex in Kitasoma between a Seven-eleven and a dentist's office. Inside, many young ballerinas were dressed in pastel colored leotards, stretching and getting ready for dance practice. Amu watched them in amazement.

"Wow," She said. "Everyone's really flexible."

"Amu-chi!" Yaya called from her spot on the floor. "Are you watching?"

"I am," Amu said. "I am."

Yaya smiled and leaned forward, spreading her arms and legs as far apart as she could as she moved to lie down on her stomach. Amu let out a gasp of astonishment.

"Holy…" She said in shock. "That's **too** flexible!"

"This is a piece of cake," Yaya said. This is true, once you've trained your muscles to become used to moving in that sort of fashion, it's easy to do stuff like that. I should know. I did two years of gymnastics.

"Do you even have bones in there?" Amu asked, but then she realized something. "Weren't we supposed to be going home and stopping to get ice cream?"

"Sorry about that," Yaya said. "I have a recital coming up, so I can't skip practice. Wait here for just a bit."

Amu just smiled and nodded. Meanwhile, Ran and Su were on the floor spinning, twirling, and making strange and awkward moves that they must have thought were actual ballet moves.

"Ballet is fun!" Ran cheered.

"It's so girly-desu!" Su said.

Meanwhile, Miki was sketching a picture of one of the girls practicing a ballet move in her sketch pad.

"It's like art!" She said with a huge smile on her face.

Just then, the door to the office opened and a very flamboyant-looking older woman stepped out. She was wearing a purple leotard with some kind of orange scarf tied around her waist and had her graying red hair tied up in a bun. Her face was also so wrinkled that you couldn't tell whether her eyes were open or closed.

"Hi, my little fairies!" She said cheerfully as she held up her hands. "How are you doing today?"

"That's some teacher!" Amu said, taken aback by the teacher's personality. I guess she was expecting something more like the director of the ballet production in _Black Swan_.

The teacher then twirled over to where Yaya was standing.

"How is the lesson going?" She asked as she struck a pose.

"I'm working hard!" Yaya said, mimicking the pose her teacher struck.

The teacher then caught a glimpse of Amu and danced over to her. She gave Amu a scrutinizing look.

"Um…" Amu said uncomfortably.

"Stand!" The teacher commanded.

"O-okay!" Amu said as she hurried to her feet. She looked distressed as the teacher scanned her figure from head to toe with a hard look of intensity. Stars flashed in her eyes as she came to a conclusion.

"You have long legs and good posture." The teacher said. "You're suited for ballet! Try dancing a bit!"

A look of anxiety and disbelief crossed her face; however it went unseen by everyone else, especially Yaya.

"Isn't that great, Amu-chi?" Yaya cheered. "Give it a shot!"

"That would be impossible!" Amu protested. However, unknowingly behind her back her Guardian Characters were whispering to each other. Once it seemed they came to an agreement, they turned to face her with cheerful looks on all of their faces.

"Go, Amu-chan!" Ran said, causing the red X-shaped clip in Amu's hair to turn into a heart-shaped one.

All of the sudden Amu felt her body moving uncontrollably. Although the moves she made were actual ballet moves instead of the cheap imitation of ballet that Ran and Su were practicing earlier, there was little to no grace within the way she moved, and it didn't help that she kept trying to break through the Character Change to scream at Ran and for someone to stop her. Once that horrific performance was over and the Character Change was let go, Amu was left panting on the floor, completely humiliated.

"Your dancing was unexpectedly good." The teacher remarked. "Although it seemed to lack soul."

"Amu-chi," Yaya said as she squatted down next to her friend. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not." Amu groaned. She then scanned the room and quickly caught sight of Ran trying to sneak away.

"Ran!" She said ominously as she came up behind the Guardian Character and grabbed her.

"I guess I overdid it." She tried to say as innocently as possible.

"I'll flush you down the toilet!" Amu threatened.

"I'm sorry," Ran said. Amu didn't listen and continued to tell her off for once again taking control of her body without permission. Yaya looked on with an amused look until she heard someone speak up behind her.

"Could you move out of the way, flower fairy number two?" The girl in the purple leotard behind her said in a slightly arrogant tone. "The prima must begin her practice."

"Sorry, Mai-ti," Yaya said as she got out of the way.

Amu looked up from scolding Ran and saw the same girl asking two other girls to move.

"What's with her?" Amu said as she got up to stand next to Yaya. "She gives me a bad vibe."

"Her name is Maika Himekawa," Yaya said. "She's been called a prodigy ever since she started going here. Her mom was a famous ballerina a long time ago.

"Okay, my little fairies," The teacher called from the center of the room. "Let's begin a full rehearsal! We'll start with the first act, with the flower fairies dancing in their groups, all right?"

"Amu-chi," Yaya said cheerfully. "Watch me!"

"Sure, sure," Amu said as Yaya ran over to join the other girls in her group.

The girls quickly organized themselves and got into position. As the music began the girls began to move gracefully and rhythmically; their dancing complimenting the song. Amu looked on in amazement.

"Yaya, you're pretty good." She said to herself, but someone couldn't help but over hear her.

"No," Maika said. "She's not. She's not raising her legs enough."

"You don't have to be so critical," Amu said.

"Well then," Maika said in a tone of voice that just reminded me so much of someone. "Allow me to show you how the prima dances."

"It's time for the prima!" The teacher said at about the same time.

Maika swiftly moved in front of the other girls, moving in a very calculated and graceful manner; sheer beauty emanating from every move she made. Amu couldn't help but be stunned. Although her stubborn nature rapidly kicked in and whipped the impressed look right off her face.

"She might be a jerk," Amu said. "But she might be the best one."

"There's that stubborn side again," Ran remarked.

"You're not very straightforward, are you-desu?" Su said.

Meanwhile, an expression of pure bliss came over Miki's face as she sketched the dancers. Although it was a little hard to do so as the ballerinas kept moving around, she was somehow managing to capture the beauty of the their dancing within the sketch. All of a sudden, though, Miki heard someone cry out and looked up to see Maika on the ground. Everyone rushed over to the ballerina's side.

"Maika-san!" The teacher cried.

"Are you okay, Mai-ti?" Yaya asked as Maika attempted to get up off the ground.

"This is nothing." She said as she winced from the pain.

* * *

"This is a pretty bad sprain." The teacher commented as she inspected Maika's ankle in one of the dressing rooms. It had only been a few minutes, but you could already see the bruise forming beneath her tights. "Looking at this, there's no way you'll be able to dance in next week's recital."

"I can do it!" Maika said desperately.

"If you strain it," The teacher said. "It'll get worse. You can't push yourself. We'll have to use an understudy."

"You must be joking." Maika said in disbelief."

"Yuiki-san," The teacher said as she turned to Yaya, who was standing behind her. "You will take her place as prima."

"M-me?" Yaya said.

"Now," The teacher said as she started walking towards the door that lead back to the practice room. "Let's carry on. Maika-san, wait here until your mother comes to pick you up."

"Okay," Maika said softly, completely distraught.

As she followed Yaya and the ballet teacher out of the room, Amu couldn't help but to turn back and look at Maika with a look of sadness across her face. Miki seemed to be troubled as well.

* * *

"Yaya's the prima?" Kukai said in disbelief as Amu recounted the story of the previous day's events. Yaya, meanwhile, seemed to be pouting. "You always get parts like the spirit of the tree or rock."

"Well," Yaya said. "I'm the understudy, so I have no choice. And besides, rocks don't have parts."

"I was surprised," Amu said. "Sure, your dancing's not the best, but…"

"Jeez," Yaya said. "You too, Amu-chi?!"

"Ballet is awesome!" Ran exclaimed as she and Su danced. This time they seemed to be doing it more correctly, but that was probably because they had observed the other ballerinas.

"It is-desu," Su said.

"You guys have been at this since yesterday," Amu said.

"We're improving!" Pepe exclaimed and began twirling until her head started spinning.

"I will not be outdone," Temari said as she began to dance in a traditional Japanese style. "Especially not at dance."

"That's a bit different," Daichi said.

"I am capable of at least that much." Kiseki said as he began to do a dance similar to that of the banana in the "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time" video. Tadase gave him a weak smile.

Amu then noticed that Miki was the only one not participating in the dancing and looked to see the blue Guarian Character sketching away in her sketch pad.

"What are you drawing, Miki?" Amu asked.

Miki turned, smiled, and showed her the image of Maika she had been sketching. She was standing on her tip toes with her arms extended and a huge smile on her face. Amu was amazed at all of the details Miki was able to capture in her portrait.

"Is that Himekawa-san?" Amu asked.

"She was really pretty." Miki said.

"She was." Amu agreed.

"She'll dance again, right?" Miki said.

"Yeah." Amu said with a smile.

"But how disappointing for her," Nadeshiko said. "To become injured right after getting the main part."

Amu then remembered the absolutely crushed look Maika had on her face when they were leaving the room.

"Yeah." She said sadly.

"I'm sure she'll be just fine." Yaya said. "'My dream is to be the prima in a world-class ballet company!'" Yaya said in an imitation of her arrogant tone. "'A recital of this level is mere child's play.' She'll say something like that."

"She seems pretty strict." Kukai commented.

"I wonder about that." Amu said.

* * *

Maika walked out of her doctor's office with a crutch supporting her weight. The teacher's initially assessment was right; her leg was pretty badly sprained and she wouldn't be able to walk on it for the next few weeks, let alone dance in the recital. As she went down the ramp outside, she slipped and fell to the ground. (Probably because you're not really supposed to go down a ramp on crutches.) It thankfully didn't cause any further harm to her injured leg, but she did start crying once she sat up.

"I wanted to be the prima." She said. "I worked so hard for it. But none of it matters now."

A passing stranger smirked as he saw the young girl crumpled on the ground.

_I found you._ He thought. _Your heart's egg is completely exposed._

* * *

After school the following day, Amu found herself wandering the school grounds. She didn't have a Guardians Meeting to go to, so she was free to do so. Although she tried to hide it, her Guardian Characters immediately noticed the depressed look on her face.

"Amu-chan looks kind of down." Miki said.

"Where are we going-desu?" Su asked.

_I wonder if she's alright._ Amu thought as the image of Maika's crushed face flashed across her mind. _Are dreams so easy to break, or so hard to fulfill?_ Amu mulled over that thought for several minutes, not bothering to look around at her surroundings. When she did finally look up, she found herself once again at the planetarium. It looked much the same as the last time she saw it, although she couldn't help but notice that the sign said that this area was restricted to students was gone.

"Somehow we ended up here." Ran said.

Amu's depressed look gave way to a bright smile.

"Maybe we'll be able to see those stars again!" She said excitedly.

She then walked over to the door and carefully opened it. When she looked inside she saw that the s artificial sky had already darkened and nearly all the stars had appeared within it. Amu let out a noise of amazement as she walked inside and began looking for a good place to sit. However, as she looked around, a flavorful aroma overtook her nose.

"Something smells good." She said. She then looked around to the other side of the projector and saw a sandy blond haired man standing there, holding a cup of tea. Although he didn't notice her at first, he quickly felt her gaze on him, looked at her and smiled.

* * *

"It's rare for me to have guests." He said as he handed Amu a cup of tea. They had taken their seats six rows in on the right side of the theater, which the man had claimed were the best seats in the house.

"Are you the caretaker of this planetarium?" Amu asked.

"That's right," The caretaker said. "Although it's just a side job." His full time job is being the man who stops monsters. "I do the maintenance, but I sometimes come just to have a look."

_The tea has a gentle scent._ Amu thought. _He reminds me of Tadase for some reason._ That was probably mostly because of his looks. Although Tadase's hair was a more yellow shade of blond, the man's hair was in a style pretty similar to Tadase's and they seemed to have a similar facial structure.

After a few seconds, Amu realized she was staring and quickly averted her gaze. The caretaker continued to smile at her.

"This is a peculiar place." He said. "Though it has been forgotten by most everyone, those who have doubts or are lost can still find it. Perhaps I am one of those people myself. Whenever I'm worried about how to finish a novel, I come here to watch the stars. When I do that, good ideas come to me."

"Novels?" Amu said. "So you're an author?"

"Just a beginner who hasn't sold any copies." The caretaker said. "I'm a novice. But it's my dream to become a full-fledged author someday."

"You can have dreams even though you're a grown up?" Amu asked.

"Of course." The caretaker said.

Amu then looked down at the ground sadly.

"Dreams…" She trailed off.

"So tell me," The caretaker said. "What are you struggling with?"

"I met an adult who told me that very few people are able to make their dreams come true." Amu said. "So I've been wondering if dreams really are that fragile or hard to realize."

"Let me tell you a secret about storytelling." The caretaker said. "Both Cinderella and Snow White, at the beginning of their respective tales, were lacking something. It was only on the last page that they were able to live happily ever after with their princes. If the princesses had everything from the beginning, then there would be no story. So any girl who is imperfect or incomplete can become the main character."

I feel I should note here that all Cinderella lacked at the beginning of the story was a ring on her finger and a throne under her ass. Snow White, meanwhile, only lacked the ability to understand what "don't let strangers in the house" meant and that technically this wasn't really resolved by the end of the story. Well, I guess it could be implied that once she had been revived from eating the poison apple the message probably got through to her, but it's never really outright stated so I'm going to assume that she didn't learn her lesson. By the way, I'm talking about the original Grimm fairy tales, not the Disney movies. I haven't seen the Disney movies since I was about six.

"The main character?" Amu slowly questioned. "Even me?"

* * *

The streets of Tokyo were crowded as Ikuto slowly made his way through the crowd. He was making his way to the train station under the bright city lights with his white violin case slung over his shoulder. While most of the people he passed were non-descript pedestrians heading in the opposite direction to him, he did recognize one face as he passed by and stopped dead in his path. The other man came to a stop as well and they stood facing opposite directions.

"An egg will hatch." Nikaidou said in a tone darker than the one he used with his students. "The egg of a gifted ballerina. It might be the Embryo. But if it's not, I'll leave the clean up to you."

Ikuto didn't respond. He just looked down at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Nikaidou asked. "You have a problem with that?"

"Not really." Ikuto said.

Nikaidou smirked and put his glasses on.

"See you later." He said in a tone more similar to that of which he used at school before walking away. Ikuto stood there a few seconds longer.

"Man," Yoru said as he floated up. "I hate that guy-nya."

Ikuto gave no response as people continued to filter by them.

* * *

Have you ever walked around or driven aimlessly for so long that you had no idea where you were anymore? Well, that's what happened to me one morning after waking up from a nightmare. I just so badly wanted to get my mind off that dream that I just got up and started walking. I ended up somewhere several miles away from my house with no indication as to where I was and with no cash or my metro card on me, which was fantastic. So I was left sitting on a park bench trying to figure out what to do. I did somehow remember to bring my cell phone with me, but it was a Nokia 5070, so it didn't have Google Maps like those fancy iPhones.

I eventually figured that if I could find my way to a train station, I could easily figure out where I was using one of the maps on the walls. However, what I was going to do from there still eluded me. I then got up and began looking for anything that indicated the location of a train station.

I must have been paying more attention to the street signs than to where I was going, because after walking about a block I slammed into someone. I was going to apologize; until I saw who it was I had the misfortune to slam into.

"Well, hello Marci-koi." He said in a seductive voice.

"Fuck off, Huntzburger." I did not want to deal with him today.

Logan Huntzburger is a lot of things. He's a rapist, a pedophile, extremely racist, and one of the top executives at Easter. He is also my stalker. I had a relationship with him several years prior to this, mostly because I was emotionally venerable and didn't understand what was wrong with dating a guy over three times my age. Hell, I wouldn't even constitute it as "dating". It was just rape. Also, despite the fact that he was very well aware that was an underage minor and every single passerby would take notice of it, every single time he ran into me he'd attempt to seduce me and would do everything from making sexual remarks to outright groping me in broad daylight. It angered me to no end and I couldn't believe that every time he got away with it. He also had a bad habit of calling me "Marci-koi", which is considered very rude seeing as "koi" is not an honorific in Japanese.

"So, Marci-koi," Logan purred as he got way too close for comfort. "What are you doing at such a nice place as this?" He put his arms around me and I hurriedly tried to escape his grip. "Buying some sexy lingerie for me to tear off of you?" He started kissing my neck and I screamed. As soon as he heard me call out for help, he took his hand off of my waist and used it to cover my mouth. "What is wrong with you?" He hissed at me.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH **ME**?" I screamed through his hand. "**YOU **ARE THE ONE **SEXUALLY HARRASSING** A** YOUNG GIRL** YOU **PERVERT**!"

I quickly began looking for an opening; something that would allow me to escape this situation. My options were limited seeing as I only had one hand free, and most of my weight was on my ankles, meaning if I tried to kick him in the groin or something, we'd both end up falling to the ground. Given the position we were in, that would probably make things worse.

I then decided to slam the heel of the hand that was free into his nose, causing blood to come gushing out of it in big red globs. He let me go and then I was able to knee him in the groin without falling. He let out a yelp of agony as he fell to the ground.

"LEAVE ME ALONE YOU SICKO!" I shouted as I ran off in the opposite direction.

I eventually managed to figure out where I was and get home just fine, but that was pretty damn scary.

* * *

"What?" Yaya said in shock as Amu walked into the dance studio. "You're going to watch all day?"

"Yeah." Amu said.

"Yay!" Yaya exclaimed as she jumped for joy.

_To be honest, I'm just really worried about that girl._ Amu thought.

"Check this out, Amu-chi." Yaya said as she pulled something out of her locker. She held it up to reveal it to be a pink leotard with see-through pink sleeves, a see-through pink tutu, and a series of pink roses around the collar. "I'll be wearing this during rehearsal today!" As she finished saying that, an adult woman walked into the room.

"Sorry to make you all wait." The woman said as she walked in with a small duffle bag at her side. As she shut the door two girls ran up to her.

"Orie-san," One of the girls said. "Did you fix that one-piece that was worn out?"

"Sure did." Orie said. "Hold on." She then put the duffle bag down and opened it up to pull out the piece that the girl was talking about.

"Who is that?" Amu asked.

"Mai-ti's mom." Yaya said. "Her names Orie-san. She's been making our costumes."

"So you're the new prima?" Orie turned to Yaya and said once she got the other two girls straightened out.

"Y-yes!" Yaya said.

Orie then pulled out a white one-piece ballet dress with a sweet-heart neckline lined with feathers and a sapphire heart adorning the center of it. Amu and Yaya gasped upon seeing the beautiful outfit.

"Could you try on the prima's next costume, then?" Orie asked. "I made it for Maika, so I might have to alter the size a bit."

"Okay!" Yaya exclaimed and then ran over to try it on. Although Yaya was shorter and a little thinner than Maika, no major adjustments needed to be made to the dress. Both Yaya and Orie were beaming as Yaya tried it on.

"She's pretty." Amu remarked upon seeing Yaya in the dress.

"It's amazing that she could make that." Miki said.

All of the sudden the door opened and Maika wobbled in on her crutch.

"Oh, Maika." Orie said.

"Mom." Maika said.

"Are you going to watch practice?" Orie asked. "I can wait so we can go home together. I'll have the car ready."

"I can get home by myself." Maika said as she opened her locker. "Go without me."

"Are you sure?" Orie asked, sounding a little bit disappointed. Maika just continued to take things out of her school bag and put them in her locker.

* * *

"Why am I dressed like this, too?" Amu questioned as she walked out into the practice room wearing the same pink outfit that Yaya had shown her earlier.

"Amu-chan, you're so cute!" Ran and Su fawned in unison.

"Yeah, not bad." Miki said.

"It looks good on you, Amu-chi!" Yaya cheered.

"Y-you think?" Amu said.

"Yeah." Yaya said as she nodded in agreement.

"All right, my little fairies," The teacher said as she danced into the room. "Let's begin dress rehearsal!"

* * *

The girls danced similarly to how they did the last time Amu was here, the only difference was that this time they were wearing their costumes and Yaya was the prima instead of Mika. But even though she had seen this all before, Amu was still impressed by the gracefulness of the dancers.

Another thing to note, though, was it seemed that this time the teacher was more critical of the dancers.

"No, Yaya-san!" The teacher shouted. "You're supposed to do a tour there!"

"Right!" Yaya said as she corrected herself. Amu's mouth dropped in shock.

"Hasn't her personality totally changed?" Amu said under her breath.

* * *

Eventually, the minutes passed and Yaya fell to the ground, exhausted.

"Yaya-san," The teacher said. "Pull yourself together!"

Yaya whipped off her brow and took a couple of deep breaths.

"Right!" She said as she got back up and tried to continue from where she left off.

"Yaya's trying her best." Amu said to herself.

Maika, meanwhile, looked absolutely miserable.

"Fairy Yaya, you need more practice." The teacher said. "Maika-san, would you help Yaya with her choreography for a spell?"

"Sure." Maika said as she got up off her chair and hobbled to the center of the room. Amu gave her a look of concern but was quickly distracted by her Guardian Characters.

"Why is Amu-chan wearing a costume too?" Ran whispered to Su.

"Maybe she wondered what it was like-desu." Su whispered back.

"I can hear you two!" Amu said in annoyance, causing the two Guardian Characters to back away from her in fear.

Amu then turned her attention back to Maika, who was hobbling towards the door.

"Wait!" Amu said. Maika stopped. "You know, there will be other recitals. So… Cheer up!"

Maika's grip on her crutch tightened.

"Recitals don't matter." Maika said. "My mom left ballet due to an injury. In a mere second, because of something trivial, she lost all the fame she worked hard for, everything."

"She did not lose everything!" Amu protested. "Orie-san is pretty, and the costumes she made are really nice!"

"What do you know about anything?!" Maika snapped. "My mom danced more beautifully than any ballerina! But no matter how hard you try, you can lose it all in an instant!"

An X-Egg then emerged from Maika's heart, and she dropped to the ground, almost lifeless.

"There's an X on Mai-ti's egg!" Yaya exclaimed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nikaidou observed the situation from across the street through one of the windows.

"Well rats," He said. "It's not the Embryo again." He then began to walk away. "I guess I'll leave the rest to you, Black Cat-kun."

Ikuto continued to monitor the situation from the telephone poll he was perched on.

* * *

The egg cracked open, revealing the X-character inside.

"Un," The X-character said. "Deux, trois!"

"An X-Character hatched!" Amu exclaimed.

"Hold on, Mai-ti," Yaya said. "We'll save you! Let's go, Pepe-chan!"

"Right-dechu!" Pepe said. A yellow bib then appeared around Yaya's neck and a giant pink rattle with yellow stars on it appeared in her hand.

"Giant rattle attack!" Yaya shouted as she spun around with the rattle and then threw it at the X-Character. The X-Character anticipated this, though and kicked it so it went flying back towards Yaya and bonked her off the head. She and Pepe immediately burst into tears.

"It hurts!" Yaya wailed.

"She's crying?!" Amu exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's because she's a baby character!" Ran exclaimed.

Amu tensed up when the X-Character floated in front of her with an evil grin on its face. She was ready to try and charge at the thing, but Maika's voice stopped her.

"It's worthless." She said. "There's no point in trying."

"No!" Amu protested.

"Amu-chan." Miki floated up to her and said.

"Yeah." Amu said. "My Own Heart: Unlock!"

Suddenly, the Humpty Lock started emanating a bright blue light and Amu was completely enveloped by it. When it faded, Amu was standing there wearing a frilly light blue shirt, dark blue shorts, stripped blue-and-white stockings, and brown boots. Most of her hair was pulled up into a light blue hat with a dark blue spade symbol clipped to it.

"Chara Nari!" Amu and Miki said in unison. "Amulet Spade!"

"I've Chara Naried with Miki?" Amu questioned.

"Way to go, Miki!" Ran cheered.

"That's cool-desu!" Su exclaimed.

Meanwhile, the X-Character realized that no one was paying attention to it, and started spinning at a rapid speed towards Amu and the other two Guardian Characters. Everyone managed to dodge, but the Guardian Character only went at them again.

"Hey!" Amu shouted. "That was dangerous!"

The X-Character didn't seem to care and sent a wave of energy towards them. Ran and Su tried to hold on, but were inevitably pushed back by the wave.

"I can't get close to it like this." Amu said as she tried her hardest not to be pushed back.

"Leave it to me!" She heard Miki say from within her. All of the sudden, a giant blue paint brush appeared in Amu's hands.

"Nice one, Miki!" Amu said.

"Use this!" Miki said.

"Yeah." Amu said as she felt the words rising from her chest. "Colorful Canvas!" She shouted as she swept the paint brush in front of her, sending a wave of colorful energy towards the X-Character and ceasing its energy attack.

"I did it!" Amu exclaimed. Her celebration was short-lived; however, as the Guardian Character started acting like it was going to charge at her again.

"It was all useless." Amu could hear Maika's voice saying. "I lost everything I worked so hard for all at once, just like my mom. I can't dance anymore. It's useless. I'm just like my mom."

Amu grits her teeth.

"Stop being a crybaby!" She shouted. The X-Character then ceased its movement. "Who cares if you messed up a bit? Don't go calling all the time your mom spent useless! You were really cool when you were dancing. Even when Yaya fell, she didn't cry about it, she just got back up! Both of you are awesome primas!"

The Humpty Lock began to glow again and Amu made a heart-shape with her fingers.

"Negative Heart:" She shouted. "Lock On!" The blue light then passed through her fingers and went flying straight into the X-Character. "Open Heart!"

Within a few seconds, the X-Character was purified and returned to its normal form of a female ballerina Guardian Character wearing a white dress.

"Merci, Amu-chan." The Guardian Character said.

"So you're Maika's Guardian Character?" Amu said.

"The next time I'm born," The Guardian Character said. "I'll be dancing with my own toe shoes. But for now, I'm still…" The shell of her egg then appeared around her. "Until we meet again!" The egg then closed itself around her and went back into Maika's heart. Amu smiled.

"Amu-chan," Ran said as she gestured over to where Yaya was still on the ground crying. "We need you."

"What should we do-desu?" Su wondered aloud.

"She's still crying?" Amu said in disbelief. She then quickly came up with something. "Yaya, want to get some ice cream?"

"Only if you treat me!" Yaya whined.

"Why do I have to?" Amu groaned.

* * *

"She cleansed the X-Egg again." Yoru said as he and Ikuto looked on at the scene. "Well, I guess it's lucky for us that we didn't have to clean up-nya."

"Guess so." Ikuto said with the tiniest hint of a smile.

* * *

Two Saturdays later, the Guardians showed up to watch Yaya preform in her ballet recital. The costumes were as amazing as the first time Amu saw them and she was once again taken aback by the grace of the dancers.

"Yaya's pretty." Amu commented at one point during the recital.

"She is." Nadeshiko agreed.

Kukai, meanwhile, looked like he was about to cry tears of joy.

"I never thought we'd see the day where Yaya was the prima." He said.

"That's an exaggeration, Soma-kun." Tadase said.

Orie and Maika were also in attendance.

"That costume is nice." Maika said.

"Thanks." Her mother said with a smile.

* * *

Later on, Amu was sitting with Yaya backstage. They watched as people buzzed around them, congratulating the girls on a job well done. Yaya received several compliments on her dancing from random strangers, and was starting to get a little overwhelmed from the attention.

"I'm tired." She groaned when she finally got a chance to sit down. As she did so, someone hobbled over to her.

"Good job." Maika said.

"Mai-ti!" Yaya exclaimed.

"You made seven errors," Maika said. "And you stumbled twice." Yaya's face blanched as she mentioned that. "But it was a really nice performance."

Yaya's face went from white to red as her eyes filled with tears as she was extremely touched by the compliment.

"Mai-ti!" Yaya exclaimed.

"How's your ankle?" Amu asked.

"Something like this will heal in no time," Maika said. "and then I'll dance again." She then looked over at her mother, who was congratulating two other girls on their performances. "I'll definitely become a prima, like my mom."

"Yeah!" Amu said encouragingly.

* * *

**Yeah... First time in a while I've finished a chapter that quickly. Although, for you guys it's been a two-month long wait as it took me the entire month of March to write chapter five of _Black Diamond_. Once again, I'm sorry about this. I plan on publishing chapter four of _Black Diamond_ on May Tenth (Marceline's Birthday), so that's probably gonna be the next thing I publish. (That is unless inspiration suddenly strikes me and I write another crappy one-shot.)**

**So yeah. Don't really have much to say and I have a lot of crap to do today, so I'm just gonna shut up and hit the save button. **

**Just a friendly reminder that if you're reading this before I fix the rest of the fic, everything beyond this point until chapter nineteen is going to be crap .**

* * *

**Uploaded to FFN on 4/4/16.**


	9. Through the Eyes of a Child

**Well, so far I seem to be living up to my promises.**

**"Come On, Look This Way Baby" by Ryo Featuring Miku Hatsune**

* * *

"All set." Amu said as she finished straightening out her uniform. She then turned to look at her Guardian Characters, who were playing some kind of card game on her bed and held the pouch the Guardians gave her – which was clipped to her belt – open. "We're leaving. Come on."

"Where're we going?" Ran asked.

"Today's Sunday." Su pointed out.

"They said we have a Sunday meeting at the Royal Garden." Amu explained. "If we don't get going…" As she said that, the door to her bedroom burst open and her little sister came bounding in.

"Sis," Ami said. "Look! Look at dis! My new dwess! Is it cute?" She then spun around to show off the sunny yellow Lolita-style dress she was wearing.

"It might be." Amu said with a smile that was obviously forced.

"Well," Miki said. "It's not that bad."

"Not bad?" Ami repeated.

"Yeah, it's not that…" Amu then realized that it was Miki who said that, no her and her face immediately fell in shock.

Ami quickly ran over to the bed, grabbing all three of Amu's Guardian Characters and holding them tightly in her arms.

"Pink!" She exclaimed. "Blue! Green! Sis, what are dese? What are they?"

"Why?" Amu wondered aloud in shock. "Other people can't usually see them."

"Super! Super!" Ami exclaimed as she continued to choke the life out of the three Guardian Characters.

"We're not 'Super'!" Ran managed to get out.

"We're 'Guardian' Characters-desu!" Su exclaimed. Just to be clear, Ami was mixing up the Japanese words "sugoi" and "shugo". "Sugoi" means "super", while "shugo" means "guardian". In Japanese, "Guardian Character" would be "Shugo Chara". What Ami was saying, though, was "Sugoi Chara" or "Super Character". Yeah, I don't get that mess up either, but I guess little kids just say weird things.

"Gwardian Characters?" Ami repeated in little kid babble. "Super Characters!" She then hugged them tighter, causing the Guardian Characters to scream out even more. Meanwhile, Amu quickly realized that she needed to make sure that Ami wouldn't tell anyone about the Guardian Characters and quickly stooped down to be eye-level with her.

"Ami," Amu said. "Keep them a secret from Mom and Dad, okay?"

"Why?" Ami asked as the Guardian Characters finally managed to break free from her hold. They quickly sought refuge behind Amu's shoulders.

"Amu-chan, hurry!" Ran said.

"That was dangerous." Miki remarked.

"Anyway," Amu said hastily. "They're a secret, okay?" She then began speeding out of her room and down the stairs. She was about to burst out the door, giving a call of "I'm leaving!" behind her before realizing that something was off. The house was too quiet. She turned to look around the house and quickly noticed a note lying on the coffee table. She picked it up and skimmed it over. It read:

Amu-chan,

Please look after Ami-chan today.

Love, 

Mom and Dad

She let out a gasp as she finished reading the letter.

"Now that I think about it…" She trailed off, remembering how her parents had approached her a few days prior asking if she could watch Ami while they went on a date. (Which to be honest, I don't think that is the brightest of ideas because I don't think a ten-year-old is fully capable of taking care of a three-year-old for more than a few minutes at a time, but then again it's better than what my mother did, which was leave her seven-year-old, five-year-old, and three-year-old alone at a Wal-Mart instead of getting an actual baby-sitter.) She had been flicking through the latest issue of _Seventeen_, so she hadn't really been paying attention to what they were saying. She was really regretting that now. "Was that today? That means I'll have to take Ami to the Royal Garden! No way, that's just plain not cool!" Well, it's cooler than leaving your three-year-old sister home alone, I can tell you that.

Just as Amu was beginning to freak out, she looked over to see her sister standing at the top of the stairs.

"I go, too!" Ami cheerfully exclaimed.

"No!" Amu exclaimed. "Absolutely not!" The cheerful expression then faded from Ami's face and was replaced by a stream of tears.

"Sis is…" She said. "So mean!" Amu let out a yelp of surprise as her sister began to sob as hard as she could into her hands. "Take me with you! Pwease!"

"This is how it always goes!" Amu groaned.

"If you don't take me along…" Ami said dramatically as she continued to sob. "I'll tell on you about the Super Characters."

"You'll do what?!" Amu exclaimed.

"Let's take her with us." Ran said.

"It's no big deal." Miki said.

"The poor thing can't stay here by herself-desu." Su said.

"That's true, but…" Amu said. Ami's face broke out into a cheerful smile as she jump-tackled/hugged her sister.

"Thank you, Sis!" She exclaimed. Amu let out a sigh as her sister rubbed her cheeks against hers.

* * *

"So, this is my sister." Amu said to the other Guardians as she arrived in the Royal Garden.

"I'm Ami-chan." Ami said cheerfully as she waved.

"She's so cute!" Yaya exclaimed. Ami giggled the compliment, but her attention was quickly grabbed by the creatures sitting on the table and she let out a squeal of excitement as she ran over to them.

"There's a Super Character King, too!" Ami exclaimed.

"I see," Kiseki said with an arrogant grin. "So you intend to worship me as King of this planet. Excellent. I will make you my subj-" He was cut off by Ami's small hand grasping him tightly.

"He's so cute!" Ami exclaimed as she rubbed his face against her cheek.

"You've made a nice friend, Kiseki." Tadase said.

"She's my subject!" Kiseki protested.

After a few minutes and many more cheek rubs, the Guardian Characters had started playing a game with Ami, allowing the Guardians to start their meeting. Amu couldn't help but continuously glance over to make sure of her sister's safety.

"Why can Ami see Guardian Characters?" She asked as she glanced over at them. "I thought only Character Bearers could see them."

"Those who are too young to have given birth to their heart's egg can also see them." Nadeshiko said.

"Too young to have a heart's egg?" Amu questioned.

"In other words," Tadase said. "The age where precise dreams and desires have yet to form. Maybe when you view the world through unclouded and unworried eyes, you can see more."

Meanwhile, the Guardian Character's game had come to a halt.

"My minons," Kiseki said as the Guardians began their discussion. "Today we shall depart on an adventure to the secret chamber." The moment Amu heard Kiseki say this, she was about to get up and protest, but Nadeshiko's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"He's talking about the special resource room." Nadeshiko said as she pointed to a room with a large wooden door off to the side of the green house. "Don't worry; they'll still be within our sight."

Amu then turned back to listen to the rest of the conversation.

"Man," Daichi groaned. "Sounds like more trouble than it's worth."

"It'll just be us playing around." Pepe pointed out.

"It's a grand adventure!" Kiseki exclaimed.

"A grand adventure!" Ran, Miki, and Su exclaimed in unison.

"Let's go!" Ami exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"Yes," Kiseki said. "That is a splendid reaction."

"Kiseki," Tadase called across the Royal Garden. "Keep a close eye on Ami-chan, all right?" Wait, they're just going to leave the Guardian Characters in charge of Ami? What if an ambulance needs to be called?

"There's no need to tell me." Kiseki assured. "Now, let us depart!"

"Yeah!" Ran, Miki, Su, and Ami all exclaimed as they began their journey towards the special resource room.

"I wonder if they'll be okay." Amu said.

"Well," Kukai said. "They should be fine as long as they don't leave the Royal Garden."

"In that case," Tadase said. "Shall we begin the meeting? Our focus for today will be to read these." He then took out a black box with some kind of gold embroidering around the edges and opened it to reveal a bunch of messy, handwritten letters. Amu picked one of them up and began skimming it.

"'My Dreams, My Wishes'?" She said as she read the subject line.

"Our school's first graders wrote them for us." Yaya said.

"I see." Amu said.

* * *

"Crawling advance!" Kiseki exclaimed as he dropped onto his hands and knees and began crawling across an empty flower bed halfway between the Guardians' platform and the special resource room.

"Advance!" Ami cheered as she dropped down to her hands and knees as well. The other Guardian Characters followed suit, trailing behind the overbearing king and the toddler.

"This is fun!" Ran exclaimed.

"How long to we have to keep doing this?" Miki asked in an exasperated tone.

"No comment." Daichi said as he slinked through the dirt like a worm. All of a sudden, he noticed a shadow passing over him and looked up to see Temari floating above him. "Hey!" He exclaimed. "That's cheating!"

"That's mean!" Miki called out.

"But if I crawled like that," Temari said. "My kimono would get dirty."

Meanwhile, Su and Pepe rolled by, kicking up a ton of dirt as they did so.

"Rolling is much faster." Pepe remarked.

"She's right-desu." Su agreed.

* * *

After spending several minutes doing various exercises as they slowly made their way to the special resource room, they finally arrived in front of the heavy wooden door that led to said room. Kiseki stopped suddenly in front of the door and turned to face the Guardian Characters and toddler following him.

"Freeze!" He commanded and they took that command quite literally, freezing in various ridiculous-looking positions. He gave them an annoyed glare. "Okay, you can move." Everyone then relaxed into their normal standing positions.

Kiseki opened the door (Which surprisingly wasn't hard for him considering how heavy the door looked.) and peered around the corner. Ran and Miki floated behind him and peered in as well, however they were all thrown off balance and fell to the ground as Ami opened the door as wide as possible. The toddler immediately ran into the center of the room and broke out into a wide smile as she looked around.

"Amashing!" She exclaimed.

"You're right," Ran said as she, Miki, and Su floated up to their bearer's sister. "I'm kind of excited now."

"It kind of has a mysterious smell to it." Miki remarked with a hum.

"It's rather dusty, though-desu." Su said, somewhat bothered.

Kiseki then floated to the back of the room where the glass panel I broke to get the Humpty Lock was, which, by the way, no one had cleaned up. I'm guessing the Guardians just forgot about it, because I really don't think they'd let a little kid play in a room with a bunch of broken glass strewn about. At least, I hope not.

"I shall now announce the true nature of this mission to you." Kiseki said to the group. "The objective of out adventure is, in short, to find the Embryo!"

"The Embryo?" Ran questioned.

"Benbenbio?" Ami babbled out, trying to grasp the word.

"The Embryo." Miki corrected.

"The Embryo is a magical egg that can grant any wish!" Kiseki explained.

"A magical egg!" Ami exclaimed.

"Precisely." Kiseki said. "I shall obtain the Embryo and rule the world. All people shall kneel before me!" He then broke out into a fit of his arrogant, kingly laughter while Ami cheered. Meanwhile, the other Guardian Characters were less than excited about the idea.

"There it is." Daichi said sourly.

"He might be…" Ran started to say.

"Kind of cool." Miki said with a blush spreading across her face. Ran let out a gasp of surprise at this remark and a look of shock crossed Daichi's face.

"Hey, hey." Ami said at the same time, ceasing the king's near hysterical laughter. "I have something I wanna wish for."

"Well said." Kiseki said. "You intend to wish for my world domination, do you not? All right! Let us begin our search!"

"Yeah!" Ran, Miki, Su, and Ami cheered excitedly. Temari, Pepe, and Daichi cheered as well, but theirs were weaker and more exasperated than those of Amu's Guardian Characters and sister.

Shortly after everyone split up and began searching the room. Daichi strained himself trying to open a chest while Ran cheered him on, but once he opened it they found that all his effort was for naught, as the chest was empty. Temari looked between some of the books on the shelves, while Miki looked in a large pot that was sitting on the ground and eventually ended up knocking it over. When she did, she tried to grab onto a book that was on a nearby shelf for leverage but ended up pulling it down with her, causing the book too fall open and a piece of paper to come flying out. As the book fell to the floor with a loud thud, the paper slowly and gently drifted through the air until it landed on Ami's head. Ami pulled it off of her head and looked at it. Upon examination, she saw that there was a bunch of writing she couldn't read and a picture of a castle with a dragon flying away from it, holding an egg. She immediately made a connection between the egg the dragon was holding and the Embryo.

"Magical egg." She said and everyone quickly gathered around her.

"Magical egg?" Daichi questioned.

"What is this?" Pepe said.

"Maybe a treasure map or something?" Daichi suggested.

"'A great desire.'" Miki began to read off the page. "'Within the egg of dreams a fearsome dragon lies sleeping, whose purpose is to protect the egg.'"

"Egg of dreams-desu?" Su questioned.

"It's the Embryo!" Kiseki proclaimed. "The Embryo is hidden within this school!"

"But it says that a dragon is protecting it." Ran pointed out, causing images of a massive fire-breathing beast with fearsome red eyes to be conjured up within everyone's minds and concerned/scared looks to cross their faces. Kiseki, however, was unfazed.

"Never fear!" The king said. "We shall vanquish the dragon! The time for me to grasp the Embryo is at hand!" He then broke into his near-maniacal, hysterical king laugh.

* * *

The blinds in front of the large glass window behind the Director cast dark shadows across the room, making the atmosphere in there more uncomfortable and intimidating than it already was.

"Is the search for the Embryo progressing at all?" He asked the ginger-haired man standing before him; his gray eyes cold and hard.

"I can assure you that we've completed the preliminaries." Nikaidou said. "There is a girl at Seiyo Academy called the Joker, who has three Guardian Eggs. Amu Hinamori. The Embryo should reveal itself near her. Of that, I've no doubt."

"Splendid." The Director said. "Continue to investigate her. Our company, Easter, shall employ any method necessary to secure the Embryo."

"Of course." Nikaidou said. Just then they heard the office door open and close, indicating that the other person in the room had just walked out. Nikaidou smiled brightly and switched from his dark, intimidating voice to the one he used at school. "Jeez, he sure is unsociable."

* * *

Ikuto stared out at the expansive cityscape from his position at the top of the Easter building. He didn't bother looking down at the people, but rather up at the tops of surrounding buildings and the bright blue of the sunny sky. His Guardian Character meanwhile, seemed more outwardly perturbed about the conversation they just left.

"I don't like it-nya." Yoru said. "Let's find the Embryo faster than them!"

"I'm not really in the mood today." Ikuto said quietly, knowing that I was sitting about twenty feet away, reading a book and waiting patiently for my turn to speak with the Director.

"Ikuto!" Yoru whined. "Fine, I'll go look myself-nya." He then took off, heading in the direction of Toride. Once he was gone Ikuto pulled a key out of his pocket. It was made of gold and the top of the key had a similar four-leaf clover-shaped gem as the one that was emblemized on the Humpty Lock. As he stood there, staring at it and thinking about whatever it was that had captivated his mind so thoroughly, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest.

"Are you interested in her?" A girl's voice asked. "The girl whose lock matches your Dumpty Key?"

"Utau." Ikuto said.

"Ikuto." Utau said. "If it's for you, there's nothing I can't do. I'll definitely find the Embryo for you. No matter what."

They stood there in silence for several minutes with their hair blowing wildly in the wind until Utau's manager, Yukari Sanjo, came to get her for a photoshoot or something and Utau was finally forced to let Ikuto go. (Probably much to his relief.) As soon as they were gone, Ikuto just curled up on the ground and went to sleep. Meanwhile, I just continued to sit up there, reading my book for at least another hour before I was disturbed by a tap on my shoulder. I looked up and saw a man with messy blond hair and hazel-grey eyes staring at me.

"Why, hello there, sweetheart." Logan said in a hushed tone.

"Back off, asshole!" I said as loudly as I could, although I knew it wouldn't wake Ikuto up. I swear that boy could sleep through anything. I remember we had several fires and incidents where the carbon monoxide detectors went off in our house and he slept through more than half of them. As a person who thinks it's safest to be on guard at all times, I find that extremely disturbing.

"Oh, no need to be so harsh." Logan said. "I'm not gonna do anything to you here."

"Is that what you want?" I said even louder, just to make the point that I'm not gonna put up with any of his crap.

"No." Logan said. "I'm here for what someone else wants."

"And what would that be?" I said.

"Director Hoshina wants you." Logan said.

"Fine." I said as I got up. Logan looked disappointed as I began to walk away.

"Aw," Logan said. "Aren't you gonna give me some form of thanks for telling you this? Maybe a kiss?"

"Bite me asshole!" I shouted without looking back.

"Oh, I would love to." Logan said in a seductive tone. I let out a groan of annoyance as I pulled the door to the stairs open.

* * *

It took me a moment and a few deep breaths to forget about Logan and actually get myself in a calm enough mindset to talk to the Director. When I walked in, the blinds were closed, allowing the shadows to cover his face.

"Hello, Director." I said as respectfully as I could.

"Sit." He commanded.

"Okay." I said as I went to sit down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk. It scared me how quickly I went from seething with rage to being jittery with nerves as panic filled my mind.

"I thought about the proposition you made me," The Director started to say, causing the panic to be replaced by anxious hope. "And I must reject it."

Everything dropped. It felt like the Earth didn't have an atmosphere anymore.

"What?" I said as I took a huge breath of air in.

"You are dismissed." He said.

"No, wait!" I managed to get out as I tried to force life-giving oxygen into my lungs. "What do you mean, rejected?"

"You are dismissed." He said again.

"No!" I almost screamed that, I was in such a blind panic. "Why! Tell me why!" He sighed in exasperation and muttered something about me being just like my mother. Had I not had been in the middle of a panic attack at that moment, I probably would have tried to choke him out for that.

"I can't accept the offer because Ikuto Tsukiyomi and Utau Hoshina are integral to this company's operations." He explained.

"How!" I demanded to know.

"That isn't necessary for you to know." He said.

"Like hell it is!" I shouted. At this point, the Director gave another exasperated sigh and hit a button on his phone.

"Watanabe-san," He said to his receptionist. "Call security."

"No!" I shouted. "I am not leaving until you te- AH!" Before I could finish that sentence, the security agents had rushed into the room and picked me up. Before I could process what was going on, they had me in the elevator descending to the lobby. Before I could even think to fight back, they had thrown me out of the building.

* * *

Ami and the Guardian Characters laid in wait. They had to be sure no one was looking before they made their move to escape. After several minutes without anyone really looking up or moving from their seats, they began to assume it was safe.

"Okay, now's our chance." Daichi said. They all flew (or in Ami's case, sprinted) as fast as they could to the door and opened and shut it as quietly as they possibly could. Once they were outside, they hid behind a nearby bush and peered behind them to make sure no one had followed them.

"I guess we've cleared the first hurdle." Kiseki said once they were sure they hadn't been noticed.

"Yeah!" Daichi shouted in agreement while giving thumbs up. Ran, Su, and Ami copied his actions.

"Why's Daichi getting all worked up?" Pepe turned to Temari and asked.

"Boys are rather simple." Temari said. Pepe gave her a weird look, but said nothing else.

* * *

"'I want to play in the major leagues when I grow up.'" Tadase read aloud.

"'My dream is to become a mage.'" Nadeshiko read aloud.

"The first-graders sure have a lot of dreams." Amu remarked as she straightened out the papers she was holding. A realization struck her as she said that. "So did all of you write one of these, too?"

"Of course!" Yaya said.

"Oh, that's right." Tadase said. "Since you transferred here, you wouldn't have written one."

"Would you like to write one now?" Kukai asked.

"Are you dumb?" Amu said in her usual stubborn manner. "There's no way I could write something so embarrassing!"

"There it is!" Yaya cheered. "Amu's in stubborn mode again!" A red blush spread across Amu's face as she gave Yaya an angry glare, but it quickly faded as she looked up at the sky through the glass panes of the Greenhouse.

_But I have no idea what my dream even is._ Amu thought. _When I grow up, what do I want to be? When I was young, I think I had my heart set on being a baker. But right now, I do everything half-heartedly. I guess I'm kind of lost._

* * *

Ami marched happily through the hallways of the school while Kiseki led the way and the rest of the Guardian Characters followed behind them. Eventually, they passed a room with a door that was slightly ajar that caught Kiseki's attention and they stopped in front of it.

"Y-you'd almost think it was haunted." Kiseki said as he looked into the darkened room, which appeared to be some kind of science lab. With beakers clearly visible inside glass cabinets and models of different human parts and animals covered up with blankets, tarps, or plastic coverings. "The Embryo must be here!"

Although Ami and the Guardian Characters seemed apprehensive to enter, but did so anyway. After a few minutes, they were able to shake off their nerves and began to look around. Daichi poked his head into several beakers, while Pepe searched around some empty vials. Su let out a very loud scream as she turned a corner and came across a very realistic looking model of a hawk in a scary pose. Ami, meanwhile, was the only one who actually made some sort of discovery.

"It's an egg!" She suddenly exclaimed. Ran and Miki immediately flew to her sides.

"The Embryo?" They questioned in unison. They followed her gaze and saw two large egg-shaped orbs floating in the corner of the room next to the helium tanks. One was bright red, the other was cream white. Based on descriptions they'd been given in the past, they assumed the white one was the Embryo.

"That's the Embryo?" Kiseki excitedly questioned.

"I dunno." Daichi, who seemed a bit more skeptical, said.

"Something doesn't seem right-dechu." Pepe said.

Ami, however, didn't seem concerned by the fact that the "eggs" were way too large and had a string tied to it and ran straight to it. As she did she knocked over a mop, which pushed a jar that was on top of the counter it was leaning against off the surface and it smashed onto the floor, causing the room to fill with smoke. (Jesus, what kind of chemicals are they keeping in this **elementary school science lab**.) Not only that, but since the Guardian Characters were directly over the chemical spill when it happed, they ended up getting covered in some kind of soot.

"My kimono…" Temari said sadly.

"That again?" Daichi said, annoyed.

Meanwhile, Ami began to climb on top of the counter and tried to reach for the string of one of the "eggs". She successfully grabbed the string of the red one and broke out into a huge smile. Through the thinning smoke, the Guardian Characters saw this and broke out into smiles as well. Those smiles quickly faded, though, when a breeze that came through an open window partially blew the tarp of a model of the skeleton of some kind of large bird. The noise of the tarp coming off caused the Guardian Characters to whip around and they all simultaneously let out loud, fearful screams.

"Th-the dragon!" Ami said fearfully.

"Do not fear!" Kiseki floated over to her and said. Although he was trying to assure her, he was having trouble keeping the fear out of his own voice. "This is where we show the true spirit of Guardian Characters."

Despite what he said, the Guardian Characters all simultaneously let out another horrified set of screams. Apparently something caused the model of the skeletal bird to come falling forward towards the floor, which made the Guardian Characters think it was trying to attack them, and due to the fact that the Guardian Characters were freaking out, Ami began to panic as well. She bolted out the door to the science lab, as did Amu's Guardian Characters; however Ami went left while they went right. Yeah, it was a really **brilliant** idea to leave the Guardian Characters alone with her.

* * *

"I thought maybe I'd look for Amu Hinamori…" Yoru said as he floated above the Seiyo Academy Elementary School grounds. "But today's Sunday-nya!" Just as he said that he was caught off guard by what sounded like screaming coming from a school that was supposed to be closed. He looked over in the direction he thought he heard the screaming coming from. "I wonder what's going on-nya." He said as he took off in the direction of the screaming.

* * *

After spending several minutes flying through the school frantically afraid of the "dragon", Ran finally realized someone was missing and came to a stop.

"Wait guys," She said, causing Miki and Su to come to a halt as well. "Ami-chan's not here."

* * *

"All right," Tadase said as he straightened out the papers in his hands. "Why don't we take a break?"

"I've been waiting for that!" Yaya exclaimed as she got up. "I'm gonna get some snacks!" She said as she took off in the direction of the special resource room; where Nadeshiko had left the snacks.

"It's about time for the first of these children to give birth to their heart's egg." Nadeshiko said.

"The heart's egg is born from a child's dreams and desires." Tadase said. "The bigger the dream, the more the egg develops. And we want to encourage them."

"If there was nothing in their eggs," Kukai said. "They'd grow up to be pretty boring adults."

Their conversation was suddenly halted by the sound of Yaya frantically running and shouting.

"Guys!" She yelled. "We've got trouble! Ami-chan and the Guardian Characters are missing!"

* * *

Tadase walked over to a smashed pot on the floor and picked up the old, weathered book that had landed open next to it.

"Even though Kiseki was entrusted with the responsibility to watch Ami-chan…" He trailed off.

"That Ami…" Amu muttered while she looked around the room. She then turned to run out the door. "I'll go look for her."

"Hinamori-san?" Tadase said as he watched her run off.

* * *

"Scawy!" Ami said to herself as she buried her head in her legs. After she bolted, she immediately took refuge in the Home Ec. room, which was just down the hall from the science lab. "Dragon is scawy!" She lifted her head and looked around. As she glanced at her hand, she noticed something. "Uh-oh. I don't got it."

"What don't you have-nya?" A voice asked. Ami looked up and saw another one of those "Super Characters". This wasn't one of the ones she had been playing with though. No, this one had cat ears and a tail. However, she automatically assumed that since it was a "Super Character", it must be a friend, and therefore it would be okay to tell him.

"Benbenbio." She said.

"Benbenbio?" The Cat "Super Character" questioned. "Oh, do you mean the Embryo?"

"Yeah!" Ami said. She then looked over at the door she left open and saw the "Embryo" (Read: Balloon.) float by. "It's there!" She said, pointing right at it. Yoru turned and looked to see it and immediately went after it.

"Wait!" He exclaimed. "If that's the Embry-" He was cut off and suddenly came to a halt as Kiseki was blocking his path.

"You thieving cat!" The king said. "There's no way I'm letting you take this."

"Oh," Yoru said. "It's just the little king's servant."

"I'm not a servant," Kiseki said. "I'm the King."

Yoru, meanwhile, just smirked, put two fingers in his mouth, and let out a loud whistle. Within seconds, the entire hallway was filled with the entire stray cat population of Toride.

"That's unfair." Kiseki remarked as he looked around at the cats that were looking menacingly at him.

"Go!" Yoru shouted. "Get him!"

The cats let out a battle cry, but before they could attack, they saw something that sent them running. It was a giant bird skeleton flying right towards them. Yoru took off in the same direction as the cats and Kiseki backed himself up against the hallway wall. Just as fast as the hallway had filled, it was completely cleared. Once all the cats were gone, the bird fell to the ground. Kiseki cautiously floated over to it. At first, he was startled when he saw it moving again, but that surprise quickly turned to relief as he saw Daichi, Temari, and Pepe emerge from it.

* * *

Ami, meanwhile, had snuck by unnoticed by either Yoru or Kiseki and began followed the balloon as it drifted from the hallway to the stairwell that led to the roof.

"I gots the magical egg!" She exclaimed as she chased after it.

* * *

"Did you find Ami-chan?" Ran asked as she, Miki, and Su met back at the hallway intersection they had split up at.

"I couldn't find her-desu." Su said.

"Where did she go?" Miki wondered aloud.

"What's wrong?" Daichi said as he, Kiseki, Temari, and Pepe floated up.

"Ami-chan disappeared!" Miki said with urgency. The other four Guardian Characters let out gasps of shock.

"What did you say?" Kiseki said. "I could've sworn she was with us a second ago."

"Is there any place you haven't searched yet?" Temari asked.

"A place we haven't searched?" Ran repeated. Then it suddenly struck the three of them.

"The roof!" They exclaimed in unison.

* * *

Ami found the "Embryo" tangled around a ladder that led over the protective wall that was supposed to be there to keep another student from committing suicide. (I believe the ladder was there so that the window washers that came every other Sunday could get in and out of their little exterior elevator thing, but I'm not sure.) Ami, not wanting to lose it forever, began to climb the ladder.

* * *

Amu, meanwhile, was frantically running around the schoolyard, calling her sister's name.

_Jeez, it's always like this_. She thought. _Mom and Dad would call me a "big sister", and I'd automatically just act like one. But truthfully, I'm really worn out. Jeez, having a little sister is so…_

* * *

"Did you find her?" Amu asked as she came across the other Guardians in the science lab.

"No," Kukai said. "How about you?"

"No." Amu said.

"Fujisaki-san." Tadase said. Amu and Nadeshiko immediately walked over to him and saw that he was holding a piece of paper in his hands. Upon a cursory glance, Nadeshiko immediately recognized it.

"That's…" She said.

"'Within the egg of dreams a fearsome dragon lies sleeping…'" Tadase read aloud.

"I see." Nadeshiko said. "They must've seen this."

* * *

Ami had just managed to get the string untangled, but once she did, the breeze caught it and it floated away. She leaned backwards and tried to reach for it, but when she did she heard a bunch of tiny voices scream and about seven little bodies push her forwards so she wouldn't fall off the ladder.

"Now, servant." Kiseki said. "You needn't try that hard just for me!"

"That's not even the Embryo, anyway!" Ran said.

"Then what is it?" Ami said as she looked up at the balloon that was ascending higher and higher into the sky.

"That's a…" Miki started to say, but she was cut off.

"A marshmallow floating in the sky-desu!" Su exclaimed.

"No, that's not it." Miki said.

"Egg of dreams." Ami said sadly as she continued to watch the balloon float away. She then glanced to her left and saw something that caught her attention. "Oh-no! Dragon!"

"Where?" Kiseki said as he looked around.

"Look!" Ami said as she pointed over to a single tree in a clearing halfway between the Elementary School campus and the Middle School campus. "Over dere!" Everyone just stared at it.

"I don't quite see it." Kiseki said. He then turned and saw Ami speedily climbing down the ladder, and bolting for the door that led back inside. "Wait!"

* * *

Although they couldn't quite see it from the angle they were at on the roof, once they were standing in front of the tree it very oblivious what Ami was talking about. The arrangement of the branches made the tree resemble a mighty dragon with a large wingspan.

"It's real," Ran said. "Just like Ami-chan said. It's the dragon!"

There was a small stone with a plaque on it placed in front of the tree. Miki floated up to it and read it aloud.

"'Here sleeps a grand dream.'" She said.

* * *

"So that's where…" Amu trailed of as she and the other Guardians ran in the direction of the tree.

"Yes," Tadase said. "It's the Dragon Tree. That's what we called it, anyway. It's where we buried our time capsule?"

"Time capsule?" Amu questioned.

"Yes." Nadeshiko said. "Myself, Hotori-kun, and the others assembled it together in first grade. We buried it and we were going to open it up on our graduation day."

"We also drew that map back then, too." Tadase said.

"So the papers we were reading in the Royal Garden were…" Amu said.

"The grand dreams of this year's first-graders." Tadase said. "They're going to be buried in their own time capsule.

When they finally showed up in front of the tree, they saw that Ami and the Guardian Characters had stolen shovels from the grounds keeper's shed nearby and had not only dug up the capsule, but had taken things out of it and were playing with some of it. Ami was admiring a pretty pink heart necklace when Amu came up behind her.

"Ami." She said. Amu could almost see her sister's heart drop as she turned to look at her. "You can't just take off like that!" Ami looked down regretfully.

"I sorry." She said.

Meanwhile, Yaya had joined the Guardian Characters in looking through the time capsule. She looked straight past the little knick-knacks that the kids had stuffed inside and went straight for the essays they had written. She started reading from the one at the top of the pile.

"'My dream is to become king of the world!'" She read. A bright red blush immediately covered Tadase's face.

"Ah, that is…" He stammered. Nadeshiko and Kukai grinned at him.

"That must be the paper Hotori-kun wrote." Nadeshiko said.

"That was before I was born." Kiseki said. "Well done!"

Meanwhile, Su let out a joyful squeal as she, Yaya, and the other Guardian Characters skimmed over the essays.

"There are so many cute dreams here from everyone-desu!" She exclaimed.

"'I want to become a doctor and help people.'" Ran read aloud.

"'I want to become a florist-desu.'" Su read aloud.

"'I'll become a manga artist one day.'" Miki read aloud.

"They're still in the midst of fulfilling their dreams," Nadeshiko said. "As they nurture them within their hearts."

"Right!" Yaya exclaimed. "So we'll do our best to protect everyone's hearts' eggs!"

"Yeah!" Pepe said in agreement.

"And make sure they don't become X-Eggs!" Kukai added.

"Yeah." Tadase and Amu said.

"What's an X-Egg?" Ami suddenly asked.

"Um…" Amu said quickly, trying to think of a way to get out of explaining it. "Actually, you should but the time capsule back to the way it was before!"

"But my new dwess will get dirty!" Ami whined.

"It's already plenty dirty!" Amu said.

* * *

"Darn them for scaring me." Yoru said as he and his stray cat henchmen searched the halls. "Where did they go-nya?" As he turned into the science lab, he saw something that made him barely able to contain his excitement. It was the cream colored "egg" that was still floating in the corner of the lab. "The Embryo?"

Ikuto was just prying his eyes open from his nap when he heard his Guardian Character calling his name.

"Ikuto!" Yoru shouted. "Ikuto! Ikuto! Wake up-nya!" Ikuto got up and saw Yoru floating there with a cream colored balloon in hand. "I've finally found it! It's then Embryo-nya! Look at it! Look at it-nya!" Ikuto just stared at him and Yoru immediately took it to mean that he messed up and quickly tried to hide the balloon behind his back. "Just kidding. I'm obviously joking-nya."

**BANG!**

One of Yoru's claws punctured the balloon, causing it to pop, and startling the little cat character. Meanwhile, Ikuto just smiled and gave him a pat on the head.

"Good work, Yoru." He said.

* * *

The sky was a bright orange as Amu and her little sister walked home. Amu was exhausted, but Ami still seemed to have plenty of energy as she walked.

"Today was…" Ran started.

"Really fun-desu!" Su finished.

"But I had a wish for the magical egg!" Ami said. "When I'm growed up…"

"Do you want to be a famous singer?" Ran asked.

"A fashion designer?" Miki asked.

"When I'm growed up," Ami said. "I wanna be like my sister!"

"Ami." Amu said, clearly touched by this.

"That's your dream?" Ran asked.

"Yeah," Ami said. "dat's why you should by ice cweam for me!"

"So that's what you were after?" Amu said, probably more upset than she should have been, but Ami didn't notice as she began to run ahead, forcing Amu to chase after her. "Stop right there!"

"Run away!" Ami exclaimed with a little bit of a laugh. "Run away!"

_She might not be sure yet, but Ami will give birth to her heart's egg soon, too._ Amu thought as she chased after her little sister. _I wonder what kind of egg will be born._

* * *

**See, I said the re-written chapter seven would be posted sometime in May, and now look! It's May and it's posted! Hooray! **

**Now, I'm just gonna keep this Author's Note short because it's early in the morning where I am (If you constitute nine in the morning as early, which I do.) and I have a lot of stuff I wanna do today. (Mainly just finishing Season Three of _The Walking Dead_.) So, thank you for reading to this point and be warned that if I haven't updated any of the other chapters yet, everything up until Part III will be shit.**

* * *

**Originally uploaded to FFN on 5/13/16.**


	10. We are Never Ever Getting Back Together

**Fair Warning: The title of this chapter may change on the version because it's so long.**

**"We are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift**

* * *

**"We tried getting through the back; it was no good!" **

**"Those people are gonna die if we don't do something!"**

**"Oh my goodness, it's a fire."**

**"Come on, Coon Friends!"**

**"No- Eric, stay in the car, sweetie!"**

**"Can we try a helicopter?"**

**"The winds are too high. The chopper would burn in minutes."**

**"All right, what seems to be the problem?"**

**"Get back, kids. It isn't safe."**

**"Eric, poopsie?"**

**"Whatever's happening, you need help from the Coon."**

**"And friends!"**

**"Keep those children back, Thompson!"**

**"Pleas sir, you must let us-"**

**"Sweetie, let the nice firemen do their job."**

**"Shut! Up! Mom! God!"**

**"Wait. Look! Up in the sky!"**

**"It's him! My god, it's really him!"**

**"He's come to help us. Captain Hindsight!"**

**"Who's Captain Hindsight?"**

**"Captain Hindsight, the hero of the modern age. Once known as Jack Brolin, a reporter for the national news, the hero was born when a freak accident gave him the amazing power of extraordinary hindsight. From toxic spills to unjust wars there is no task too large for… Captain Hindsight!"**

**"Captain Hindsight, thank god you've come!"**

**"What's the skinny?"**

"MARCELINE, IKUTO, COULD YOU PLEASE TURN DOWN THE VOLUME!" My mom came into my room and shouted. "THERE ARE LITTERALLY PEOPLE IN HOKKAIDO COMPLAINING ABOUT THE NOISE!"

"WHAT?" Ikuto and I shouted in response. We were watching _South Park_ on the TV in my room and had the volume turned up to the max to block out the sounds of plates hitting the wall and our mother crying, begging our step-father to stop. We'd intervene, but the last time we did that, Ikuto got a concussion, I got a black eye and I broke our step-father's nose. I don't really want to go into detail about how we got all of those injuries…

"TURN THE VOLUME DOWN!" She shouted again. "THE POLICE ARE OUTSIDE AND ARE GOING TO FINE US IF WE DON'T TURN THE VOLUME DOWN!"

"OKAY!" I shouted. "FINE!" I turned the volume way down.

"Thank you." My mother said, sounding very relieved. "Jesus Christ, why'd you have it up so loud? I could barely hear you over that mindless show."

"Oh-no." Ikuto muttered under his breath.

"Well, **mother**," I said. "if you didn't marry that bastard we wouldn't have this 'mindless show' turned up so loud."

"Marceline, please don't start." Ikuto muttered.

"What was that?" My mother snapped.

"Oh, don't give her the attention, mother." Ikuto muttered.

"You heard damn well what I said." I snapped back.

"Do you guys just pick fights for no reason?" Ikuto asked aloud.

"Don't use that kind of language with me!" My mother shouted.

"I'll take that as a yes." Ikuto said.

"What?" I shouted. "Damn? That's not even a bad word! They don't even censor it out on TV! You wanna hear real bad language? Fuck, shit, ass, bitch, cunt!"

"You two have completely forgotten I'm in the room, haven't you?" Ikuto asked.

"A girl of your age should not be using that language!" My mother shouted. "Heck, a girl of your age shouldn't even be watching this sort of programing!"

"Once again, I'll take that as a yes." Ikuto said.

"A girl of my age?" I questioned. "How old do you think I am?"

"So you guys wouldn't notice if I jumped out the window?" Ikuto asked.

"Um…"

_Wow, she really doesn't know_. I thought.

"Nine?" She finally guessed.

"Later." Ikuto said as he leapt out my bedroom window.

"Mom, I am eleven." I said. "I have been eleven for six months, two weeks, and a day. Wow? Do you even know how old Ikuto and Utau are?"

"Uh… Fourteen and twelve?" She guessed.

"Ikuto is fifteen years, eleven months, three weeks, and three days old." I pointed out. "Utau is fourteen years, two weeks, and two days old. If you really did give a crap about us, you would know that shit."

"That's not true!"

"Of course it is and you know it is." I said as I grabbed my coat off the bed.

"Where are you going?" She demanded.

"Out." I said.

"Where?"

"Hell, that's where."

"Marceline!"

"Go fuck yourself bitch!" I shouted as I ran out of the house.

* * *

I can't believe how easy it is to sneak on to Asa Mokuzai Academy's grounds. I mean for god's sake, the Prime Minister's daughter goes to school here. You'd think security would be really tight, but from what I've seen, it's pretty lax.

This is the school Sarah attends. It's a bording school for the richest kids in Japan that also happen to have the most uninvolved parents in Japan. It's not that surprising seeing as her father is the furthest thing from a helicopter parent.

I knocked on the door. I had to do it pretty loudly because Sarah always sleeps with her headphones on. When she finally came out, she looked much disheveled and very pissed. She doesn't like being woken up.

"What the fuck, Shady?" She said when she answered the door. "I'm trying to sleep off a headache."

"Yeah." I said. "I'm sure all that loud music really helps with a headache."

"What is it that you want?" She asked.

"I got in a fight with my mom." I said. "Can I sleep on your extra bed?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." She said.

"Thanks." I said.

Sarah has a small dorm room. It's so small that she only has two beds, a nightstand, and a small closet. She's lucky, though. She's supposed to share the space with a roommate, but the school stopped making her do that since she's more difficult to live with than my mother.

I climbed in the extra bed and Sarah curled back under her own covers.

* * *

I was standing in the middle of a parking lot. I don't know how I got there, but all of a sudden there were about eighty police cars chasing after me. I quickly thought to try and climb up a tree at the other side of the parking lot that had many leafy branches. I tried running to it but the closer I got to it, the longer the parking lot stretched. It was basically like I was running in place, but I knew I wasn't because if I was, the police cars would have caught me.

Eventually, I was able to reach the tree and climb up it but the police surrounded the tree and pointed these guns with laser scopes at the tree. There were over a hundred little red lights pointed at me. The policemen fired, but none of the bullets hit me. They all hit the branch I was sitting on and caused it to break out from under me. I fell out of the tree, but I didn't hit the ground. I just fell through a deep, dark hole in the ground.

The hole was essentially bottomless and no matter what I did, I couldn't stop falling. The last thing I heard before I woke up was: "Sequetur te dicam."

* * *

When I woke up, it was very early in the morning. Well, not that early. It was around six-thirty or seven o'clock. It was definitely early enough for school to have started or about to start. Sarah was already in her school uniform and was talking to someone outside the door. I'm certain it was another foreigner because I recognized that the conversation was in English. Fluent English to be specific. All the Ls I heard were pronounced correctly.

"I don't know about Saturday." Sarah said. "I think I have to go to some dinner party."

"How about Sunday?" Whoever at the door asked.

"I'm not sure…"

"How about I call you Sunday and take it from there?"

"Okay."

"Alright, I'll talk to you later."

"Talk to you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Sarah shut the door of her dorm room and went over to her nightstand to get a hair tie or something.

"¿De qué año es?" I asked.

"Good morning, Aurora." Sarah said. "It's twenty-thirty-eight."

"You sure?" I asked. "It feels like twenty-fourteen to me."

"I'm sure." She said.

"Who was that at the door?" I said as I sat up.

"Oh, just someone I know from class." She said dismissively as rummaged through her bag for something.

"Oh." I said as I stretched out. It really isn't comfortable sleeping in your regular clothes. "Well, I better get going. Thanks for letting me stay here."

"No problem." She said.

"Later." I said as walked out the door.

* * *

It was a decent November day. It looked like it might rain and it was pretty chilly out, but other than that it was pretty normal. I was walking down the main road, the one that led up to the castle-like building of Seiyo Academy's Elementary School. I was walking in the opposite direction of it, though, towards the more… Well, I don't want to say it's a poor area of town, but it was definitely was a lot nicer when I was little. You know, when the kids played with Barbie Dolls and Hot Wheels instead of Molly and Sig Saurs.

Once again, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been and someone came up behind me and wrapped their arms around my waist.

"Hello, Marci-koi." A familiar voice said.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,_ _fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,_ _fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!_

"Huntzburger, I'm giving you ten seconds to let me go." I said. "If you don't you can say goodbye to your balls forever."

"Oh, Marci-koi," Logan said sweetly. "no need to be so harsh. I just wanted to hold you."

"Ichi."

"And kiss you." He started kissing my neck.

"Ni. San."

"And maybe a little something more…"

"Shi. Go."

"You're still counting?"

"Roku."

"Come on, you can't be serious."

"Nana."

"You can't seriously rip off my balls."

"Hachi."

"Can you?"

"Kyuu."

"Okay!" Logan shouted as he let me go. "Shit, Marceline! You don't have to take it that far!"

"You wrapped your arms around me when you knew I wouldn't be interested." I bluntly pointed out.

"That was different."

"You kissed my neck when I threated to remove your balls."

"That's because I love you!"

"You said 'And maybe a little something more…' when I was still wasn't responding to your advances, which implied that your motivations were sexual, not romantic."

"Come on, Marci-koi." Logan said as he tried to grab my arm.

"DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU BASTARD!" I shouted as loud as I could. That definitely got people's attention.

"Marceline, there's no need to be so loud…"

_Oh what? Are you nervous because people are suspicious of a twenty-nine-year-old trying to grab an eleven-year-old?_

"I DON'T CARE HOW MANY POKEMON CARDS YOU HAVE IN YOUR BASEMENT! I DON'T WANT TO GO WITH YOU! YOU'LL TOUCH ME IN MY NO-NO ZONE AGAIN!"

Before I knew it, at least twenty people were on their cellphones and a couple of angry looking women were quickly approaching Logan. They looked like the type of women who not only would know how to rip off Logan's balls with their bare hands, but make him eat them, shit them out and eat them again. Logan apparently realized this, because like the little coward he was, he took off. The women quickly followed him. Another woman, who was on the phone with the police, rushed over to me.

"Little girl, are you alright?" She asked.

"No." I sadly said.

"Did he hurt you?" She was clearly honestly concerned.

"No, I wanted to see him get his ass kicked."

* * *

"I'm here!" Logan said as he walked into his office at Easter, out of breath.

"Wow," Miku, his secretary said. "and with only two minutes left in the work day. New record!"

"Oh, shut up." Logan said. "I… I need to sit down. Get out of your chair."

"Shesh, pushy." Miku said standing up. "Must be some broad if she's making you run all over town."

"Ah..." Logan said as he sat down. "Just a girl I used to date. I've kinda been trying to win her back."

"Oh yeah?" Miku asked. "And how's that working out for you?"

"Not good…" Logan was still slightly out of breath. "I've tried everything."

"Everything?"

"Yeah, everything."

"Have you tried standing outside her house with a boombox playing Peter Gabriel?"

"What?"

"I'll take that as a no."

"Wait, what do you mean."

Miku sighed.

"If you stand outside a girl's house with a boombox playing Peter Gabriel, she has to take you back." She explained. "It's like a basic rule of romantic movies."

"I'm not so sure…" Logan said.

"Trust me." Miku said. "If you do that to a girl, she'll definitely take you back."

* * *

"All right, Butters, I think we've almost got the Chinese to trust us! Now as soon as they tell us their invasion plans, make a run for the door, okay?!"

"Okay, okay."

"Ho ho, that's a good one, Ping Ling. Hoho. So, ah, where were we? Oh yes, the invasion pran."

"Huh, invasion pran."

I was, once again, watching _South Park_. I while I was watching it, though, I thought I heard very loud music playing outside my window, but I ignored it.

"What day is American invasion again? I fohget."

"'Scuse me, miss?"

"Yes, sir?"

"These people won't leave us alone."

"MARCELINE, HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO TURN THE TV DOWN?!" My mom came in and shouted.

"IT'S NOT ME!" I shouted back. "FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, THE MUSIC IS CLEARLY COMING FROM OUTSIDE! ARE YOU TOO RETARDED TO REALIZE THAT?!"

"DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!"

"OH, GO FUCK YOURSELF!" Once again, I ended a fight by leaving.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

"TO MAKE THIS RETARDED ASS MOTHERFUCKER TURN HIS FUCKING MUSIC DOWN!"

_Whoever this jackass is, I am going to slaughter him._

* * *

Oh, surprise, surprise. How did I not see this coming? Logan Huntzburger is standing in front of my house, blasting Rick Astley on a stereo. That bastard doesn't give up, does he? Well, I probably should've realized that when he didn't stop when I screamed "NO!".

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" I shouted.

"WHY MARCI-KOI," He asked. "HELLO! HAVE I WON YOU BACK, YET?"

"WHAT?"

"HAVE I WON YOU BACK YET?"

"I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME! I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAID!"

"OH! WELL, I WAS TOLD THAT IF YOU STAND OUTSIDE A GIRL'S HOUSE AND BLAST PETER GABRIEL ON A STEREO, SHE HAS TO TAKE YOU BACK! I COULDN'T FIND ANY PETER GABRIEL SONGS, THOUGH, SO I USED RICK ASTLEY! I FIGURED THE EFFECT WOULD BE THE SAME SEEING AS PETER GABRIEL AND RICK ASTLEY ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AMOUNT OF GAY!"

"THAT IS THE MOST RETARDED ASS THING I'VE EVER HEARD!"

"BUT IT'S WORKING, RIGHT?"

_God, I wish Japan had a Castle Doctrine. _

"OKAY," I shouted. "I'M GONNA GIVE YOU TEN SECONDS TO GET OFF MY PROPERTY OR ELSE!"

"OR ELSE WHAT?" Logan asked. "THE POLICE WON'T COME IF YOU CALL THEM AND JAPAN DOESN'T HAVE A CASTLE DOCTRINE, WHICH MEANS YOU CAN'T SHOOT ME!"

"ICHI! NI! SAN! SHI! GO! ROKU! NANA! HACHI! KYUU! JIYUU! THAT'S IT!"

"WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

I went inside the house and got some eggs out of the refrigerator. These weren't ordinary eggs though. These were eggs that had been sitting in the back of the refrigerator for approximately four years. I was saving them for an occasion like this.

I went upstairs to my room and started throwing the eggs out of my bedroom window. I pegged him with at least half of them. I can still see the look on his face; the look of disgust, anger, and horror that came along with getting hit with gross, rotten eggs.

_I hope you've got the message now, Huntzburger. I am never getting back together with you._

* * *

_**So many swears! Agh, my vocabulary is more colorful than usual because I've been watching nothing but**_**_South Park_**_** for the past few days. Ah! Please, Mom! For the love of god, install the freaking cable! I'm starting to feel like blowing my brains out from all the silence and **_**_South Park!_**_** AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!**_

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 2/21/14**


	11. Amu's Afraid of Her Own Story

**Moving fucking sucks!**

**"Just Lose it" by Eminem**

* * *

"PULL!"

Sarah threw the Justin Bieber poster off the edge of the roof of the school and it slowly floated down until it collided with my arrow.

"Hey, Shady," Sarah said. "what are we doing, again?"

"We're shooting arrows at Justin Bieber merchandise." I thought that was obvious.

"I know, but why at an Elementary School?"

"Because ninety percent of Justin Bieber's fan base is between the ages of six and twelve." I explained. "When they come back to school tomorrow and see all the destroyed Justin Bieber merchandise, they'll cry and scream in pure agony!" I started laughing just thinking about it. "'Oh my god!'" I shouted in a high-pitched voice, imitating a Justin Bieber fan. "'Who would do something like this to Justin Bieber? The cold heartless bastards!" I almost fell to my knees laughing.

"Okay, that is kind of funny." Sarah said, giggling a little herself. "But seriously, don't you think that's mean to do to little kids?"

"Hey, they deserve it for worshiping a Canadian douche bag." I said. I pulled an arrow out of my sheath and got into position to shoot. "Okay, ready?"

Sarah picked up a Justin Bieber doll from the ground next to her.

"Ready!"

"PULL!"

Sarah threw the doll up in the air and I released the arrow so that it would stab Bieber through the abdomen once it reached the crest of the arc.

"Wow, nice one." Sarah said.

"Well, you know, I try." I said.

"Hey, do you think anyone will be bothered by the fact that we're up here?"

"Nah." I pulled one more arrow out of my sheath. "That no trespassing rule only applies when school is in session. If you come in here on a Sunday, it's perfectly fine."

"Oh, Okay." Sarah said.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"PULL!"

Sarah threw a CD case up in the air. I just about had a lock on i-

"Gyah!" I released the arrow and sent it flying towards the main road.

"Sorry!" Sarah said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I thought I had it turned off."

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed. That had really scared me. Not because it was so sudden, but the fact that it made me lose my aim. I've had gunshots go off next to my head and I didn't lose my aim. What was wrong with me?

"You okay?" Sarah asked when she saw that I was visibly shaken.

"Yeah." I said. "It's just… I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just get another Justin Bieber thing, will you?"

"Okay."

Sarah walked back over to the pile of Justin Bieber merchandise we had accumulated and picked up what looked to be a Justin Bieber pencil case. I reached back to my sheath to get another arrow, but couldn't find one. I took off my sheath and looked at it to be sure.

_Yep, it's official_. I thought. _I am out of arrows._

"Damn it." I said.

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

"I'm out of arrows."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll be right back, I'm gonna retrieve the ones we already shot off."

"Okay."

I quickly took off down the stairs and to the main gates of the school. There were at least twenty pieces of Justin Bieber merchandise on the ground that was now torn, ripped, stabbed, sliced, and shattered into a million pieces on the ground. Although Sarah and I probably made Justin Bieber a thousand bucks richer in US dollars, it does my heart good to know that young, impressionable pre-teen girls will probably be heartbroken enough to commit suicide upon seeing that someone hated their favorite teen idol enough to destroy his merchandise in front of their school.

After wandering around in front of the school yard for twenty minutes and waving off Sarah's offers to help, I had found twenty-six of my twenty-seven arrows.

_That one arrow I lost didn't land in the schoolyard? That's odd._

Then I remembered that one arrow went flying towards the street.

_Crap! I better find it before someone drives over it!_

* * *

It turns out the arrow did not land in the street. It got lodged in the trunk of a tree across the street from the school. I have no idea how that happened. The trajectory, angle, and distance the arrow had to travel just don't make sense. I've been over it a thousand times in my mind and I just can't make sense of it. The best answer I can come up with is… Physics don't exist. Your teachers are lying to you. None of those rules work or apply in real life. It's all just one big crock of shit. Don't buy into it, kids.

At the time, though, I wasn't concerned about how the arrow got there as much as I was with getting it out. I just sighed and started to pull on it. I didn't want pull on it too hard because I was afraid that the arrow head would come off, but it was really stuck in there. I had to use a lot of elbow grease to get it out. When I did finally get it out the force of all that pulling sent me flying backwards, into a girl who was walking down the street behind me that I didn't see.

"Ow…" I groaned as I got off the girl. "Hey, watch where you're walking."

"What?" The girl said as she slowly sat up. She was wearing punk-goth clothing and had her pink hair pulled away from her face with a pair of red x-shaped hair clips.

"You should have been paying attention to where you were walking." I repeated. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have smashed into you."

"I was paying attention to where I was going!" She said, clearly outraged by the accusation. "You just weren't paying attention to what you were doing. Whatever it was you were doing…"

"I was pulling an arrow out of a tree." I explained as I held up the arrow. "It won't happen again."

"Ow…" The girl cried as she tried to stand up.

"Oh, do you need help getting up?" I extended my hand to help her up.

"Thanks." She said as she took it, stood up, and steadied herself. When she looked at my face, a look of déjà vu crossed her face. "I'm sorry, have we met before?"

I stopped and thought about it for a second.

"It's possible." I said. "I don't know… What's your name?"

"Hinamori Amu." She said. "Yours?"

"Slim Shady." I said. Don't ask me why, but I'm not too keen on giving strangers my real name.

"Slim Shady?" She repeated.

"You know," I said. "Slim Shady? Hotter than a set of twin babies in a Mercedes Bendz with the windows up when the temp goes up to the mid-eighties?" She didn't look like she was getting it. "Calling men ladies? Sorry Doc, but I've been crazy? There's no way that you can save me? It's okay, go with him Hailie?" Still a look of confusion. "Never mind, I have to get back to my friend."

"Okay." She said. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Alright…" I said awkwardly. "Bye…"

After I got across the street, I think I could almost faintly hear Amu say:

"Oh my god, that was weird."

_It was weird for me, too, Amu._

* * *

As I walked back onto the school yard, I saw Sarah being taken away by the police in handcuffs.

"Turns out that trespassing thing applies all the time." She said as she passed me.

A police officer asked me if I was with her and I just said "No entiendo español." and they left me alone.

* * *

**We're moving and there's a lot of inconvenience that goes along with it. Like not being able to find where shit is, not having cable, ect. I'm just glad all the shows I watch put off airing new episodes because of the Winter Olympics.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy this. It was a little rushed, but oh well. Only one chapter left until I can publish this on ! **

* * *

**This was originally posted to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 2/23/14**


	12. Amulet Clover

**You're still reading this? Why don't you go read something good, like "Poison Apple" by RobinRocks, or "Of Final Adventures and Last Years" by Sylph Dancer, or "Graceland" by Juliet's Shadow, or an actual book?**

**"I Love it" by Icona Pop**

* * *

If I died tomorrow, I would die knowing the following things are fact. Kim Kardashian looks like a hobbit in real life, anyone carrying a black notebook and talking to themselves is suspicious, and Tsukiyomi Ikuto is the best violin player that has lived or ever will live. Okay, that last thing is probably a very biased opinion, but it is true. I've never heard anyone-not even my father-play the violin as well as he does. Every time I hear him play, it's like I am a child again; that I am free to do whatever I want and become whatever I want. I feel safe and at ease. Not that many things in this world can make me feel that way.

When I was younger, I could never get him to play it for me. If I asked, he'd say no. If I begged, he'd tell me to leave him alone. If I threatened to kill myself, he'd tell me that I have some serious mental problems if I'm willing to go that far to hear him play the violin. If I actually tried to do it, he'd struggle with me for whatever it was I was trying to kill myself with and it would end with a trip to the hospital because one of us would get cut or lose hearing in one of our ears in the process.

When I was about nine, I discovered that Ikuto just didn't want to play in front of other people. So, if I ever happened to notice that he was leaving the house with his violin, I'd follow him, hide, and listen from a distance. I know that may seem a little… …stalker like… …but he is really that skilled!

Just to be clear, though, Kim Kardashian really does look like a hobbit in real life (I know, I've seen her.) and anyone who carries around a black notebook and talks to themselves **is suspicious**. Do **not** hang around those people.

One night not too long after Ikuto's sixteenth birthday I noticed him leave the house with his violin case slung over his back. I got really excited because I hadn't heard him play in a long time, so I followed him down an ally way, over a wall, through a wooded area, and came out into a shopping center. At the time, I questioned how he was able to do all that. I mean, I'm an assassin. I've had special training. I was able to keep up with his pace, but most normal people shouldn't be able to do that. I mean, that wall was at least twenty-feet high.

There are two ways to follow someone. The first way, they never notice you. The second way, they only notice you. I was trying my best to follow Ikuto using the first method of following someone. I was keeping my tread light and paid close attention to where I was going. I was doing a remarkably good job.

At one point, Ikuto stopped suddenly and looked at something. I didn't see what it was, but it must not have been important as he just continued on his way.

* * *

Ikuto came to stop at a flight of steps leading up to a white pergola with vines growing on it and an elliptical cement block to sit on underneath it. I hid in the woods about twenty-five or thirty paces away. Ikuto was about to take out his violin, when something made him stop.

"What's wrong, Yoru?" He said.

_Huh? Is he talking to someone?_ I looked around but didn't see anyone else there. He didn't have a cellphone, so I knew he wasn't talking to someone on the phone.

"I know you're hiding something." He said.

_Does he hear voices in his head, too because if he does, we probably should be worried about whether or not we have some sort of genetic condition?_

"It's pretty obvious that you are."

_I wonder if you can get welfare for having some sort of genetic condition…_

"So that's it." Ikuto said. Then for some reason he flicked the air, then closed his violin case and got up.

_Wait, where are you going?_ I thought as I got up to follow him.

"KILL ALL THE NON-BELIEVERS!" The voice in my head shouted.

**_SHUT UP VOICE!_**

* * *

I followed him to a house in the more nice part of town. He jumped up to a balcony and just stood there. I don't know what he was doing, seeing as the door didn't open. If he was saying anything, I was too far away to hear. Eventually, he jumped down from the balcony and began to walk away. Then someone came out from the house and shouted to him from the balcony.

"Hold on! How do you know that?" They said.

"Catch you later." Was all he said.

"Hang on!" But Ikuto had already walked off.

Tsukiyomi Ikuto equals bad ass.

Ikuto passed the wall I was hiding behind and I began to silently trail him. I heard him say something along the lines of "At the end of the day, we are enemies.", then he was quiet for several blocks before he suddenly stopped and said:

"Marceline, I know you're following me."

_Crap._

There are two ways to follow someone. The first way, they never notice you. The second way, they **only** notice you.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"I didn't." He said as he turned around. "I just stop every few feet and say that to make sure you aren't."

"No you don't." I said.

"How do you know?" He asked.

This is a trick.

"Okay!" I said. "I was following you! I really don't have a life so I have to stalk my sixteen-year-old brother all the time!"

"Finally, you've admitted it!" He said in mock overjoyment.

"Uh, you know the last part was sarcasm, right?" I had to make sure before he started teasing me.

"Of course." He said.

"Got it."

"So, how long were you following me for?" He asked.

"Since you left the house." I said.

"Why?"

"I don't know…" I said. "Boredom?" I shrugged. I really couldn't come up with a good lie in that moment. "Oh, do you hear voices in your head?"

"What."

"Voices in your head, do you hear them?"

"No." He said in both denial and concern. "Why, do you?"

"No, just making sure." I said in slight disappointment.

"RAPE AND PILLAGE IN THE GLORIOUS NAME OF SATAN!"

**_SHUT UP, VOICE!_**

* * *

**END OF PART I**

* * *

**Wow, if you're still reading after all of the shit I gave you, you probably deserve a medal or something. Quick! Someone call Sochi and tell them to make a special Olympic Gold Medal for anyone who reads up to this point! Oh wait, are the Winter Olympics still going on? I don't know, I wasn't following that.**

**I feel good about this chapter. Granted, I ripped most of this off from the anime, but still.**

**This is going up on hopefully tonight. I don't know... I might pass out halfway through uploading this stuff, so who knows. **

**Just so you know, you don't need to feel obligated to review. I don't write this because I wanna get the most reviewed fic on the site or whatever, I write this because I can't get the fucking story out of my head. Seriously, I've had this story in my mind since late twenty-ten and haven't been able to get it out of my mind since! I need to write this, otherwise I think I might go crazy!**

**...Not that I'm not already crazy but...**

**Anyways, if you do decide to review this I will respond, most likely with a smiley face or something. Even if you condemn me to a thousand years of torture by the Demon Lord Cthulhu.**

**Thank you for reading up to this point if you have. :)**

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 2/24/14**


	13. Part II: The Key

"If one person can say something to make someone feel bad, then maybe another person can say something to make him feel good."

-Unknown


	14. A Confession in a Graveyard

**M does not mean lemon.**

**"Remember Me" by Eminem Featuring RBX and Sticky Fingaz**

* * *

Did you know that the drive from Toride, Ibaraki to Hanamaki, Iwate is nearly five hours? Plus, when you add in that Easter didn't want to drive me themselves and I had to take a bus there and I couldn't afford to take an express bus that five hour drive turned into seven hours. Oh, and let's not forget that oh-so-wonderful bitch that had to get in a fight with the bus driver over letting her "Seeing Eye Dog" on the bus. It was pretty obvious that she was faking because, one, the dog she was trying to get on the bus was a pit bull. They generally don't use pit bulls for Seeing Eye Dogs because if the dog bites someone, its jaw will lock up and a lot of times when that happens, they have to kill the dog and break its jaw just to get it to let go of the person. And two, when the bus driver pointed at her and said "either leave the dog or get off the bus" she responded with "stop pointing at me". Stupid, dumb bitch.

Ah, yes. Let's not forget the two-hour delay we had on Highway Four because it started freaking snowing and the bus driver had to pull over 'cause he couldn't see. That gives us a grand total of… Ten hours of my life wasted! I'm never gonna get those ten hours back! Oh, I swear to god, one day I am just going to set the Easter building on fire, disable all the fire alarms, and tell the local fire departments that any calls coming saying that the Easter building is on fire is a fake stunt by the hacking group Anonymous and not to take the reports seriously. However, I'm not going to because with my luck, Ikuto or Utau would be in the building and get killed, too. God, I fucking hate Easter.

Now, you may be wondering why Easter would be sending me to a town nearly five-hundred kilometers away. Well, that's easy! They want me to kill someone! But why do they want me to kill someone? 'Cause they're jerks! Pricks! Assholes! Bastards! They don't give me a reason, they just tell me to do it. The only reason why I knew what happened with Mr. Thompson because I was speaking with the Director when he came bursting in and demanded to know what the fuck was up with the company's operations. With this guy, I had no idea what he did to piss Easter off. All I know was his name was Matsushita Ayumu, he was staying in a hotel room in Hanamaki, and that he had mid-length, straight, dull blonde hair, brown eyes, and was of average height for a Japanese man.

I sat on the bus in my normal assassin's uniform, only I had a black trench coat over it because it was so god damn cold! It's only the second week in December! If it's this cold already, I don't wanna imagine what the rest of the winter is going to be like.

I looked out the window at the snow-covered ground. I always hate how dead everything looks in the winter. The trees have no leaves and when snow isn't covering the ground, the grass is all lifeless. My favorite time of the year is spring. It's warm, but it's not too warm. The plants come back to life, giving us magnificent flower buds in shades of pink, purple, and yellow. Let's not forget the Cherry Blossoms that Japan is famous for. But, I think my favorite part about spring is something that most people find a pain in the ass. The Dandelions. They're usually some of the first flowers you see in the springtime. To me they kind of represent… I don't know… Hope, I guess.

However, the world outside the bus looked grey and dead. I sighed and decided to just look at my feet instead of the depressing exterior environment. I was listening to the song "Groundhog Day" by Eminem on my iPod. At least that seemed to make the time go by a little bit faster.

"All right passengers," The bus driver said. "we should be pulling into Hanamaki Station shortly, provided that nothing else goes horribly wrong."

"Thank god." I said in relief. A number of other people also seemed to be relieved at this announcement.

THUMP! BANG! THUMP! BANG!

_Oh crap._

"Uh, sorry folks." The bus driver said. "I'm gonna have to pull over and see what we hit."

Nearly everyone let out an audible groan. The bus pulled off to the side and the driver got out. For a few seconds, the only sounds you could hear were the low whispers of other passengers and the music coming out of other people's headphones which were turned up way too loud. Then there was a scream.

A number of passengers, including myself, raced off the bus. What we saw was the bus driver crouched over the body of a boy in an orange parka. A boy in a red poof-ball hat and a boy in a green ushanka stood nearby and just said, in reaction to their friend being murdered:

"Oh my god! You killed Kenny!"

"You bastard!"

* * *

I quickly sprinted across the lobby of the hotel, so fast that the entire lobby was a blur around me. I didn't want anyone to notice me going in there and walking down the hall without checking in. Of course, they could just assume I was a call girl, but I don't want to be seen like that. I ain't no whore.

Once I got around the corner, I quickly looked around to check and see if anyone working the front desk noticed me. It didn't look like it, so I continued on my way. The hallways looked pretty average for a hotel with worn red carpet and off-white walls. As I passed each and every doorway, I paid close attention to the gold numbering hanging at normal eye-level on each door.

The room Matsushita was supposed to be staying in was room four-oh-four. It took me awhile to figure out that the first number stood for the floor level and the last two stood for the room number. People say that I'm smarter than I give myself credit for. Those people obviously haven't seen me fuck up as bad as this. I mean, seriously, I was screaming suspicious at the top of my lungs by wandering around lost like that. If a security guard approached me, I'd be screwed. I blame Easter. They didn't give me a map of the building or blueprints or anything I could have used to find my way around that place. Then again, the blueprints for any building in any town are readily available at the town hall, so the blame is really on me there seeing as I didn't think of that… I should probably be executed for being so retarded.

Once I figured it out, I quickly made it to the fourth floor. Luckily for me, Matsushita was dumb enough not to lock the door to his hotel room. (Jesus Christ, that's scarily dangerous!) He was in the shower at the time, so he didn't hear me come in. I quickly got into position. The bathroom was just to the left of the front entrance, so I just went to the wall opposite the entrance, which was just past the TV and the bed. I stood in the proper stance one should use when shooting a bow and arrow; with my legs spread apart and the bow held out fully at arm's length, ready to let my arrow fly.

It didn't take long for him to get out of the shower. A millisecond after stepping out of the bathroom, the arrow pierced his brain. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere. It coated the ceiling, the floor, the walls, even I and I was standing approximately two and a half meters away.

I slowly stepped over to Matsushita's body and felt for a pulse. It was official, he was dead.

I suddenly felt like my lungs were quickly filling with water and I couldn't breathe. It was like I swallowed a bunch of rocks and then decided to jump into the deep end of the pool. I was drowning and I couldn't swim back up to save myself. I began to panic and quickly in took and expelled oxygen from my lungs. My vision began to blur and I fell to my knees.

_Okay Marceline, you need to calm down now before you pass out._

I tried to take slow, deep breaths, but that just made me feel even dizzier. How do people find that calming? Well, I guess if you're dizzy you can't panic, so I guess it kind of works…

Once I figured out that deep breathing wasn't working, I pretty much was like "fuck it" and began looking for the hotel room key. Unlike a lot of the newer hotels, this one still uses old-fashioned lock and keys. Once I found it, I left the room and locked the door behind me. After that, I bounded out of the building.

* * *

I somehow ended up in a graveyard near the hotel. I sat on the ground with my back against a headstone and my face buried in my knees.

_Why do I keep doing this? Killing people like this… I didn't even know anything about this guy and I… I… Are Ikuto and Utau really worth this? Are they really worth the nightmares and the guilt and my sanity? Oh, what am I thinking? Of course they are! If there's any possibility that they could live happy, normal lives as a result of my actions I have to take it! Right? But… But still… To… To take a human life like that… I…_

I began bawling even more heavily into my knees.

"T-this is a-a-all that stu-u-upid bastard's f-fau-ult." I muttered into my knees. "I-If he-e-e ha-a-and't l-left u-u-us, I-I wouldn't b-be here ri-right now."

And here I am playing the blame game again. I don't mean to blame others for things that are not my fault, it's just human nature. Humans have been conditioned to avoid getting into trouble at all costs. From the first "bad thing" we do as a child, we learn that doing something that is generally considered wrong will be met with punishment. Humans don't like punishment. That is why when we are confronted with wrongdoing we either do one of two things: We lie and say we never did it, or we admit the wrongdoing but blame others who had nothing to do with what we did wrong for forcing us into a position where we had to do what we did wrong. It's horrible, but it's just the way we are.

My dearest apologies to my father, though. I honest to god wasn't thinking right when I said that.

After a few more minutes of playing the blame game with my father, my mother, and Director Hoshina, I returned to quietly sobbing into my knees. While I sat there, I did contemplate running away or committing suicide, but decided that it wasn't in anyone's best interests for me to do that. If I died or were to suddenly go missing, Easter would have nothing between them and the ability to rule over Ikuto and Utau's lives like evil dictators more than they already do.

I stopped crying after a few hours, but I didn't have the will to get up. It wasn't that I wanted to die via freezing to death, but that I was so exhausted from crying I felt like I could fall asleep right there. I knew how dangerous that was. If I somehow didn't die of exposure, I would probably get pneumonia. That wouldn't be good seeing as when I get sick, I **really **get sick. I remember when I was three I got the common cold and had to be hospitalized for a few weeks. You know, if my mother didn't get Eclampsia when she was pregnant with me, I might not have been born premature and my immune system might have been able to develop fully.

While I tried to find the will to get up, I thought I heard footsteps coming towards the graveyard. That is the last thing I need right now, to be caught in a graveyard covered in blood. Best case scenario, they think I was burring a body without permission. Worst case scenario, they think I'm some kind of pervert. Either way, I'd go to jail for a few hours.

I figured if I stayed absolutely quiet and didn't get up from where I was sitting; whoever it was that was coming wouldn't notice me and eventually go away. As the footsteps came closer and closer, I began to hear the voices that belonged to the beings that were slowly crunching through the snow and making their way up the hill.

"S-say…" A girl said.

"Yes?" Another responded.

"U-um, what was it again?" The first girl said. At that point it sounded like they had stopped in their tracks. "That's right. Awhile back, you said you have someone you like. Who might that-" I guess she regretted saying that already, so she abruptly stopped talking.

"Oh, that." The other girl said.

Then it was quiet for a second, and it sounded like someone was pulling something out.

"A dog?" The first girl asked.

"She's a girl." The second girl said. "Her name's Betty."

_Huh, my little brother had a dog with that same name._ I thought. _Small world._

"We'd been together since I was born," The second girl continued. "but she died last year."

"So the person you like…"

"She was definitely the girl I liked most." The second girl said. "I'm not very good at handling confessions. So I always Character Change and let Kiseki turn girls down." Just to note, I think I might have misheard something there. Also, there are apparently a lot of lesbians in this town.

"But now, there is a girl who's always on my mind." She continued. "She suddenly appeared before me. We were both Guardians, so I felt it was wrong. But I couldn't forget about her. I'm just going to say it, Hinamori-san!"

_Wow, that girl has the same last name as the girl I met the other day. I wonder if they're related…_

"Y-yes!" The first girl said.

"It was the first time I'd ever seen a girl so bright, cheerful, and strong!" The Second girl said. "A girl like Amulet Heart!"

Call me manically psychotic all that you want, but I really had to resist the urge to burst out laughing. Yeah, I know, that's really terrible and heartless considering I just murdered someone not even three hours ago, but damn it, I just found this so fuckin' funny. Oh, and it's not because that they're lesbians. I'd laugh if a straight girl got rejected by a straight guy, too. I don't know, man, it's something about other people's misery that I find hilarious. Like when that bus explosion happened on Highway three-sixteen and all those orphans died, I just couldn't stop laughing over it for days. Yes, I know, I'm a really sick fuck who should be committed.

"What?" The first girl said. "So, uh, you like me after a Chara Nari." Once again, might have misheard something there.

"'L-like' may not be exactly…" The second girl said, now kind of embarrassed.

Then some snow fell off of a tree branch, and it caused the first girl to scream. Then I guess something else must have happened because the first girl shouted: "Sorry!"

"It's okay." The second girl happily said.

"Did we scare you?" I heard a third girl say as she and two others walked through the graveyard towards the two girls talking near the entrance.

_Wait, when did they get here? I didn't hear them at all!_

"Oh, it was you guys." The second girl said.

"You weren't supposed to make any noise!" A fourth girl whined.

"Really?" A guy said.

"Let's go, Hinamori-san." The second girl said.

Then I heard five sets of footsteps making their way out of the cemetery. After that, I finally had the motivation to get up, go to the bus station, and go home.

* * *

If I didn't hate Easter before, now I really do. The next bus headed for Ueno Station, which is where I would have to get off to switch from a bus to a train to get to Toride wasn't coming until five o'clock the next day. This meant I had to sleep on those hard plastic chairs, freak out from a nightmare in front of strangers, break my personal rule about not using public restrooms twice, and break my personal rule about never eating at McDonald's. When it finally came time to board the bus, I felt like tap dancing. I couldn't wait to get home.

I was putting my backpack in the overhead compartment when I heard the bus driver say, "Ma'am, dogs aren't allowed on the bus". I looked over and saw a skinny blonde girl holding a Chihuahua in her hands.

"But, sir," She said. "I'm blind."

_Oh, fuck._

* * *

**Yeah, it didn't occur to me when I rated the version of this that someone might read it expecting it to be porn. I mean, I hate to say it, but a lot of M rated stuff is porn. I mean, not all of it is. "Graceland" by Juliet's Shadow is rated M, but it's not porn. But all the rest... Yeah, it's porn.**

**Nothing new going on in my boring little life other than I haven't been in school for a month and I'm starting to get very bored... *Sigh***

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 3/6/14**


	15. I'm Gonna Kill You

**Merry Christma- It's March.**

**"Back to December" by Taylor Swift**

* * *

"_Mitsumenaide tsukamaenaide_

_Mayoikonda BUTTERFLY_

_Jiyuu utau dare ni mo mienai hane_

_Kakushiteru no anata no mune no oku"_

"Stop! Stop! Stopping!" The dance teacher exclaimed as the music abruptly stopped, causing Utau to cease her movement. "That was very, very bad dancing! Absolutely atrocious, Utau-chan!"

"My motions were perfect." Utau pointed out, frustrated that they were stopping in the middle of the song **again**, and that she was probably gonna be forced to start from the beginning **again**. "My rhythm as well."

"Sure, of course." The teacher said. "But your dancing has no soul. A dance with no soul cannot captivate the hearts of the audience!"

* * *

Utau sat in the corner of the room with a towel draped over her head. Her manager, Sanjo Yukari walked over to her.

"There isn't much time left before your concert." Yukari said. "We'll have problems if you're like this."

Utau just stayed silent.

"I told you this isn't a game." Yukari continued. "You are working for the Easter Company. You signed the contract. You can't just sing and dance as you please."

Utau, once again, stayed silent.

"I see." Yukari said. "So you don't care what happens to Ikuto-kun."

That got Utau's attention. She suddenly stood up and threw the towel off her head.

"Once more, from the top please." Utau said.

"Wow!" The dance instructor exclaimed, having heard nothing of the conversation that took place between Utau and Yukari. "You're finally eager to learn! I'm so happy!"

_Such a cute girl._ Yukari thought as she looked on at Utau.

* * *

"CD Sales were higher than expected." Yukari explained to Director Hoshina. "The project is progressing at an excellent pace."

It was a late December evening. It was the last official business day for many people in Easter's Main Headquarters. Many people were exhausted and just couldn't wait to get home to their families. Director Hoshina, however, was frustrated with the lack of progress made this year and couldn't wait for January Third to roll around so that way he could get back to work bossing other people around so that way they would do the work for him.

"Her singing has a special power." Yukari continued. "I'll find the Embryo very soon."

Ah, another promise that cannot be fulfilled.

"However…" Director Hoshina said. "Doesn't this Hoshina Utau girl have a number of issues?"

Depends on what you mean by issues. She has a brother complex, her mother sucks as a parent, her father's absentee, her sister is a psychopath who killed her guinea pig when she was six and her sister was four, she pushed her sister down the stairs for murdering said guinea pig, she gets PMS really bad…

"Any potential irregularities she may have can be found in any girl her age." So, it's normal for your sister to murder your guinea pig? "I'll be in control. You needn't worry."

"Hello." Nikaidou Yuu said in his happy, up-beat teacher voice as he came into the room. "Sorry about being late. I had to show up at work even though it's winter break. It's not easy being a teacher."

"Disgusting." Yukari said. "Hey, Yuu. Don't use that character outside of school."

Nikaidou laughed. "It's somehow become a habit."

"How can you call yourself a teacher when you hate children?" Yukari asked.

"It's all part of my plan to efficiently collect eggs from weak children." Nikaidou explained.

"Oh?" Yukari said. "The Embryo is a special egg. It should be hidden in children filled with hopes and dreams. That's where my Utau comes in handy."

Oh please, tell me more about **your **Utau. Did you know I murdered her guinea pig when she was six and I was four? (To be clear, it wasn't out of malice. It looked cold, so I tried to warm it up. …By sticking it in the microwave… My mom took my bike away for that…)

"I'll be the one to find the Embryo." Nikaidou declared.

"Not if you keep failing." Yukari pointed out. "Carry on as long as you like, you'll never find the Embryo. Not with your slow methods."

"That's enough." Director Hoshina said, frustrated. "I don't care which method is used. Find the Embryo for Gozen without delay."

"You can count on me, Director."

"I will surely deliver the Embryo to Gozen."

Ah, ass kissing. If there's anything anyone in the corporate world is good at, it's ass kissing.

* * *

Although Ikuto may claim that I purposely followed him, this time, I swear it was a complete accident. I was really tired, I didn't want to sleep at home, Sarah said I'm not allowed in her dorm during the day, and Easter got a bomb threat so no one was allowed in any restricted areas (A.K.A. the roof) until the police where done going around the place with the device sniffing dogs. I didn't want to go to my private place seeing as I had a feeling Logan was following me, so I went to the park, climbed a tree and fell asleep in the tree. Not very private considering it was December and almost all the leaves had fallen off the tree, but whatever.

When I fell asleep it was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon and this section of the park was pretty much vacant. So, imagine my surprise when I woke up at nine o'clock at night hearing a piece I know my brother composed himself. If I fell out of the tree, cracked my skull open, and had all my brains fall out right then and there, I would have died happy. Although this particular piece is actually kind of sad, it still makes me happy to hear him play.

Apparently it must have made someone else happy to hear him play, because he stopped abruptly in the middle of the piece.

"What are you doing here?" Ikuto asked.

"N-Nothing." I heard a familiar girl's voice say.

I heard Ikuto walk over to something.

"You're stopping?" The girl asked.

"Yeah." He said.

She then ran up the stairs that led to the pergola.

"Are you leaving?" She asked. "You're not going to finish that song?"

"It's done." No it's not. You still have another fifty measures. Play!

"Huh? Why?" She asked.

Ikuto didn't give a response.

"Aren't you going to play by the street over there?" She asked. "More people would hear you that way."

_I tried making that same argument, honey._ I thought.

"I'm not playing for people to listen."

_That's the same response I got._

"You eavesdropper."

_Well, he didn't call me an eavesdropper._

"Y-you were the one playing out in the open!" She pointed out.

Ikuto walked closer to the girl.

"Wh-what?" The girl said.

"Don't tell anyone about this." Ikuto said.

"U-um…"

"It'll be a secret between you and me; just the two of us."

It was silent for a minute.

"I-if you insist, I guess I m-might be willing to keep quiet." She stuttered.

I didn't hear what Ikuto said, but it made her retaliate with "Shut up!". Then I guess he must have said something else and she responded with "Th-That was on purpose! Why would I ever stutter?".

"See ya." Ikuto said.

"Wait!" The girl called out. "Play just one more time!"

"Don't want to."

_Oh, come on, Ikuto! Please!_

"Come on! Please?" The girl begged. "I want to hear your violin again. Your playing was kind of sad. But it was really beautiful, too."

That made him stop.

_Hey, I said that about your playing, too and you just told me to fuck off! Not fair!_

"So, please?" The girl asked.

It was quiet for a moment again.

"Have you forgotten?" Ikuto asked. "We're enemies."

"Enemies?" She questioned.

Ikuto started walking again.

"The Easter people are getting serious." He said. "Now's your last chance to get out."

_Easter? What do they have to do with anything? Who is he talking to?_

I climbed down from the tree and saw that girl I met when I was destroying all that Justin Bieber Merchandise, Hinamori Amu. For a second I wondered how Ikuto knew her and what she had to do with Easter, but then a more devilish idea came to mind.

_She's just standing there, mouth-a-gape, not paying any attention to her surroundings. I could…_

I slowly crept up behind her, making sure my steps were quiet and my breathing was unnoticeable until I was directly behind her. I leaned in so that way my lips were right behind her ear.

"I'm gonna kill you." I whispered.

She then slammed her elbow into my stomach, screamed, and ran off. When Ikuto came back because he heard the screaming, he just saw me on the ground laughing my ass off.

* * *

Well, it turned out that bomb threat was a false alarm (DAMN IT!) and they unlocked all the doors that are supposed to be for authorized personal only and let unauthorized personnel go into those places again. That's really stupid, but oh well.

Ikuto was laying on the helicopter landing pad (Which is probably even stupider, but oh well.), trying to take a nap. He couldn't sleep, though. He couldn't get what Amu said out of his mind.

"Your playing was kind of sad. But it was really beautiful, too."

Why didn't that work when I tried saying that to him?

He pulled out the Dumpty Key, held it by the chain over his head, and stared at it.

"Are you thinking about her?" Utau asked. "The girl whose lock goes with that key."

Ikuto sat up. "Not really." He said as he stuck the key back in his pocket.

"Ikuto." Utau suddenly said as she dropped to her knees and hugged him. "Ikuto, I have a request to make. I want to see you tonight, no matter what it takes. Because it's Christmas Eve."

**Ring, ring, ring, ring, riiiiiiiiing.**

**Ring, ring, ring, ring, riiiiiiiiiing.**

Utau got up and pulled her out her cellphone. She had gotten a text message from Yukari.

The party starts in two hours. You better not be late.

"Work?" Ikuto asked.

"Yeah." Utau said sadly. "I barely have any free time these days." She closed her phone. "I should be able to sneak out around eight. I'll be waiting. I'll be waiting." She sounded very sad and desperate when she said it the second time. "You have to come."

Utau then quickly ran across the roof and over to the stairs, as she didn't want to keep Yukari waiting any longer. As she was about to turn the corner, she saw someone standing there and stopped.

"A date on Christmas Eve." Nikaidou said. "How romantic."

Utau just ignored him and stomped up the stairs, pissed that that asshole had heard something so private and personal.

Ikuto had slung his violin over his back when Nikaidou started coming up the star.s

"She's so earnest it brings a tear to my eye." Nikaidou said as he climbed up the last few steps. "That girl would do anything for you. She'd even choose to do very bad things."

Wait, are we talking about Utau or me? Because what Utau's doing is defiantly considered as bad as putting a crayon in the markers bin compared to what I'm doing.

"How long are you gonna act like an outsider, Tsukiyomi Ikuto-kun?" Nikaidou asked in his happy, up-beat teacher voice. But then he switched to his normal voice for the second half of what he had to say. "You should hurry up and realize you're the reason she's falling to the dark side."

Yeah, we're talking about Utau. I've been on the dark side of the force since I was born.

Nikaidou put his hand on Ikuto's shoulder, but Ikuto brushed it off and left.

"I'll make you work hard." Nikaidou said as he watched Ikuto walk away. "For my purposes."

* * *

"Come back here, Utau!" Yukari exclaimed as she watched Utau walking as fast as possible down the hall. "You still have to meet with everyone! Wait!"

There were a bunch of important executives at that party and Utau was making herself look very bad by just walking out like that. But, she didn't care. She was going to see Ikuto, and that's all she cared about.

_Ikuto. _Utau thought as she began running down the hall.

"Utau!" Yukari called after her. She gave up when she realized Utau wasn't gonna turn around and come back. "Honestly." She muttered.

* * *

"The party was fun!" Amu's Guardian Character, Ran exclaimed.

"Yep!" Miki agreed. "A huge blast!"

"Tadase-kun as a lion was super cute, wasn't he-desu?" Su asked.

"Y-you think?" You could tell that Amu was going to start blushing any second now. "It wasn't anything special, was it?" She said trying to suppress the blush and keep her "cool-and-spicy" character intact.

"It had you pretty giddy." Miki pointed out.

"Oh zip it!" There's the blush!

Ran giggled, but then stopped when she realized something was wrong.

"Huh?" Amu said. "What's wrong?"

"I can sense an X-Egg." Ran said.

"She's right." Miki said. "It's really big."

"I have a bad feeling about this-desu." Su said nervously.

"Let's go." Amu said.

"Yeah!" All three of her Guardian Characters said in unison.

* * *

Amu and her Guardian Characters ran into the park to find a number of people with their heart's eggs turned into X-Eggs. She looked around in horror. She had never seen so many X-Eggs in one place before.

"There are a lot of them." She said in shock. She walked around the area of the park where she found them. They were all musicians that she had seen the day before when she went into the park looking for the beautiful song she heard. She remembered how enthusiastic and lively everyone was. "They were all having so much fun yesterday."

"Ah, Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed as she pointed over to a figure standing several feet away, surrounded by X-Eggs. He turned to look at her, and she realized it was Ikuto. (Like the cat ears and tail didn't give it away.)

"Ikuto!" Amu exclaimed.

* * *

Utau stood in the middle of a shopping plaza by a large Christmas Tree. She looked at her watch. It was eight-twenty.

"Ikuto." She muttered. He was twenty minutes late.

_Is he coming?_ She wondered in her mind. _No, don't worry. He won't forget. He'll come._

She hoped she was right.

* * *

Snow had begun to fall.

Amu and Ikuto stood there staring at each other. Then, Amu tried to get closer.

"Stay back!" Ikuto shouted.

Amu stopped dead in her tracks.

"Stay away from me." Ikuto said.

"Ikuto!" Amu exclaimed.

Suddenly a mass of black energy pushed Amu back. Once it stopped, Ikuto and the X-Eggs were gone.

Amu thought she heard her Guardian Characters say something, but she just stared at the spot where Ikuto had been standing before. Then, looked up at the sky, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

* * *

_He's not coming. _Utau was slowly beginning to accept that thought more and more.

"Ikuto." She muttered. She felt like crying. This was the first time this had ever happened to her; first time someone didn't show up when they said they were gonna be there. (That is, unless you don't count the time our mother left us at Toys R Us saying she'd be back in twenty minutes and didn't come back until a store manager called her six hours later.)

She looked up at the sky, still clinging to the hope that he would show up.

* * *

Ikuto was walking down the street. He took the longest way he knew home. He just wanted to be alone for a while. He stopped when he passed a church, and looked up at the sky, wondering whether what he was doing was right or not.

* * *

**Yeah, I ripped off the Anime. Deal with it. ****This is one of my favorite episodes in the Anime. That's why I couldn't help but rip it off. I was gonna put in Logan harassing Marceline again, but decided against it. **

**Most of this is crap, though. I just mostly did it because I'm trying to stall myself from reading this fic called "Misery Business" 'cause I'm not so sure about the pairing in the fic. I read the prologue, and so far it's good. But, I can't help but blush when I read it and think "This is weird! I've never pictured them together like this! This is so weird but I can't stop reading!". But the same thing happened when I started reading LxLight stuff and that's one of my OTPs now, so...**

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 3/8/14**


	16. Butterfly's Labyrinth

**YES! Finally a chapter with a capitalized "L" in the title!**

**"Meikyuu Butterfly" or "Butterfly's Labyrinth" by Nana Mizuki**

* * *

"What's up people?" I asked as I jumped down into the basement. Most people would break their necks doing that. Most people. I am not most people.

"Not much." Kimura mumbled.

"Akiko bought us chocolate!" Chouko exclaimed excitedly. I think this might be the first time she's eaten all year.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO SPEAK, BITCH!" Kimura shouted.

"Hey!" I said as I slapped him off the back of the head. "Be nice to the lady."

"Stay out of it, whore." Kimura slurred.

"Thanks for the compliment." I said as I sat down next to Sarah. "Chocolate me."

Akiko threw a bar of chocolate to me across the room. It was Milk Chocolate. Not my favorite, but it was better than nothing.

"Merry Late Christmas." Akiko said.

"Thank you." I said.

"Oh, speaking of Christmas…" Sarah reached in her bag and pulled out a box wrapped in red and silver-stripped wrapping paper. "…I got you a present."

"I don't want it." I said, pushing the box away.

"Oh, come on." Sarah said.

"No, I don't want you spending your money on me."

"I didn't spend anything on this."

"Liar."

"No, I'm serious. I didn't spend anything on this."

"Yeah, right."

"Fine then." Sarah said. "Don't take it. Anyone want this?"

"I'll take it." Kimura said.

"I change my mind, I'll take it." I said snatching the present out of Sarah's hands.

I pulled off the wrapping paper and opened the packaging to find two iPhones; a black iPhone Four and a white iPhone Four S.

"Oh my god." I said.

"They're my old ones." Sarah explained. "I wasn't sure what model or color you'd want so I just gave you both."

"You shouldn't have." I said. "Why'd you give me this?"

"Have you seen your phone?" Sarah said. "It's a Nokia 3100 that's only being held together by duct tape. I'm surprised it can still make calls."

"Well, that's all I need it to do!" I exclaimed. "And my phone works fine. Watch." I pulled it out and pressed where the numbers 1-1-4 should be on the phone and then hit speakerphone. (I was trying to call directory assistance.) There were a few crackly sounding rings before someone picked up.

"Tori- poli- at's yo- emer- cy?" The operator said on the other side.

"What?" I said.

"To- de pol- dep- men- wha- i- the eme- en-" Okay, maybe my phone's a little old.

"Uh, can I have the number for…" I paused for a second to think of a place I legitimately didn't know the number for. "Yeah, can I have the number for Domino's Pizza?"

"Aw, dude." Akiko said. "You're gonna get Domino's? They fucking suck!"

I shushed her.

"I'm so- at wa- at?" And maybe it's been dropped a few times…

"Uh, I said I wanted the number for Domino's Pizza." I said. "Preferably one near Toride, Ibaraki."

"I'm so- the con- tion mu- be ba- can yo- sa- at aga-" …Into a pond…

"Domino's Pizza near Toride, Ibaraki." I said, frustrated. I looked over and saw that Sarah was giving me a look that said "I told you so".

"Shut up, it still works fine." I said.

"Wha- as tha-" …And a lake…

"Pizza! I want it! Give me the number!" I nearly shouted.

"Ar- yo- in dan-" …And Tokyo Bay…

"JUST GIVE ME THE FUCKING NUMBER, DAMN IT!"

"Okay, I- ge- lice to yo- loca- ri- ay" …And the toilet, once…

"Look, if you don't give me the number, I'm gonna kill myself." I probably threaten to do that more than I should…

"Ar- yo- in so- sor- of cul-" …Okay, maybe more than once…

"Ich möchte die Nummer für Domino Pizza!" I said in agitation. "Did you understand that, honey?"

"Okay, I'm gon- put yo- on hol- whil- I cal- ATF be- ause the To- lice depar- ob- sly ca- han- thi- selves." …And I may have thrown it at my mother's head…

"Wait, what was that?" I said. "I heard ATF in there."

"Jus- ay on the li-" …And a train may have run over it…

"No, why are you calling ATF?" I asked, however she already put me on hold. "Damn it."

Sarah was still giving me that "I told you so" look.

"Okay, god damn it, I'll take your phones." I gave in.

"What do you say?" She said like a mother to a little kid.

"Thank you, Sarah." I said.

Not long after that, Hideyoshi came downstairs wondering why there were about seventy cop cars outside asking the Neo Nazi Cult to come out before "they did what they did in Waco".

* * *

After we were able to convince the police that we weren't a Neo Nazi Cult planning on committing a mass suicide (Which wasn't hard because ATF never showed and the Toride Police are stupid.) I went home to try and figure out my new phone. When I got there, it was early. My mother had probably just gone to bed, so I didn't need to worry about running into her.

I went into Ikuto's room. He was still asleep. I thought about just gently nudging him awake, but where's the fun in that?

"OH MY GOD!" I screamed. "IKUTO, WAKE UP! THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE! MOM'S DEAD!"

"WHAT?" He shouted, panicked and confused.

"Ha-ha, just kidding." I said.

"What?"

"Just kidding."

"Not cool, Marceline." He said putting his hand to his chest, probably to feel how fast his heart was beating.

"Oh what, did I scare you?" I couldn't stop laughing.

"Yes!" He snapped. "For Christ's sake, I thought I was gonna die!"

"Oh, you can live through a fire." I said dismissively.

"Christ…" He muttered as he put his head in his hands.

"Here." I said as I handed him the black iPhone Four.

"What's this?" He asked as he took the phone.

"Christmas present from Sarah." I said.

"This is why you woke me up?" He asked.

"Yep."

"This." He said. "You woke me up at five in the morning and made me think I was going to die… For this?"

"Yeah…" Now that I thought about it, it did seem kind of stupid.

"Fuck you, Marceline."

I deserved that.

* * *

It was two days before New Year's Eve. Hundreds upon thousands of people throughout Tokyo were bustling around, shopping, and enjoying the Christmas and New Year's displays for the last few days before they were to be taken down. Utau's song "Meikyuu BUTTERFLY" (Which I'm pretty sure translates to "Butterfly's Labyrinth".) was the soundtrack to all of this. It was playing in every store, on every iPod, on every radio station, and the music video was on every mega-sized television screen in a sixty kilometer radius. You know, if Easter wasn't pocketing ninety-eight percent of the song's sales, Utau would be loaded right now.

Utau, however, stood on top of the Easter Building, staring out into the distance. She was waiting for something…

…And that something came up the stairs behind her, hoping that she would still be pissed at him for not showing up on Christmas Eve.

"Ikuto." Utau said when she saw him. She quickly ran up to him. "Why didn't you come on Christmas Eve?" Some of the hurt was still in her voice, but she wasn't pissed at him. Ikuto stayed silent as she hugged him. "Come to the next concert. You have to."

* * *

The Easter Incorporated Concert hall was packed. You could hardly breathe once you walked into the lobby of the building. I'm surprised there wasn't a massive amount of deaths from carbon dioxide poisoning. There were lines that went out the building just for snacks alone. Never mind the thousands of people who were lining up at the box office for last minute tickets despite the concert being sold out. All of this you have Utau to thank for. Ninety-percent of the audience there that night had no interest in seeing any of the other artists. Not even the boy band DARTS, which had been the hottest thing before Utau came along. All of these people just wanted to hear Utau sing.

Ikuto would have been extremely happy for her, if she wasn't doing it for the wrong reasons.

"You should hurry up and realize you're the reason she's falling to the dark side."

Ikuto couldn't help but remember what Nikaidou said while he stared at a poster of Utau hanging up on the wall. This was everything Utau had ever wanted; to be able to sing for thousands upon thousands of people. She had wanted to reach people's hearts with her songs. Now she was doing it, but for all the wrong reasons.

Ikuto shut his eyes and took a deep breath before walking to the meeting place. Going in there angry wouldn't help anything. Going in there pissed was just fine; going in there ready to slap a bitch would make matters ten times worse than they already were.

* * *

"Hello there, Ikuto-kun." Yukari pleasantly greeted. "I haven't seen you in a while. I heard you attacked a number of street performers on Christmas Eve and took their X-Eggs?"

"Yes." Nikaidou, who was standing a few steps to the front and left of Ikuto said. "But I was really behind it. And as usual I had him clean up the mess."

"I've heard that you've only found worthless X-Eggs, even after targeting those Seiyo Elementary Kids." Yukari said to Nikaidou.

"In any case," Director Hoshina, who was standing behind Yukari, said. "we must devote all of Easter's resources to finding the Embryo. I have great expectations for tonight."

Ikuto just stayed silent and stood there. He couldn't care less about what any of these people had to say. He'd still leave there hating them, hating life, and hating the world. None of this shit was fair, but he had no control over it.

"Hey. What are you doing?" Some crew member said off in the distance. "This area is for authorized personnel only."

"I-I'm so sorry!" That voice sounded familiar. Ikuto turned to look in the direction the voices were coming from for a second.

"Is something wrong?" Yukari asked.

"No." Ikuto said, still looking in that direction.

* * *

Amu finally walked out of that never-ending line with two ice creams in hand.

"Phew, I finally got it." She said to herself.

_How did I let Yaya talk me into buying ice cream? _Amu internally wondered. She began to look around for her friends but found that they weren't anywhere in sight.

"Huh?" She said. "Where did everyone go? Or wait, am I lost?" Lost? She couldn't be lost! The place was bigger than Gillette Stadium and Patriots' Place combined and was packed with people! How could she get lost? She began quickly looking around for familiar faces and found one rather quickly. Though, it didn't belong to any of her friends.

_Ikuto. _She thought. Ikuto was staring at a poster of Hoshina Utau before he just suddenly began to walk away. Amu realized that this might be her one chance to confront him and find out if he was the one making all the X-Eggs.

_I'll just ask him straight out_ _about Christmas night and about Easter._ She then followed him down a hallway and into some sort of storage/stage prep area. However, she didn't see where he went after that.

_I thought he went this way._

"Hello there, Ikuto-kun." She heard a woman say. She followed the direction of the voice and saw between a space between two boxes where Ikuto was. She couldn't see the woman who was talking or anyone else who happened to be there.

"I haven't seen you in a while." The woman continued as Amu hid behind a wall.

_Who did that voice belong to?_

"I heard you attacked a number of street performers on Christmas Eve and took their X-Eggs?"

"Yes." She heard a male voice say. "But I was really behind it." Then some crew member walked by with a really loud, rattily cart with squeaky wheels, so if they said anything else, she didn't hear it.

"W-Was that Ikuto's voice?" She whispered to herself. "I couldn't hear very clearly."

"I've heard that you've only found worthless X-Eggs, even after targeting those Seiyo Elementary Kids." The woman said.

Amu was shocked to hear that for a few seconds, but the shock quickly turned to anger.

"In any case," A man that was clearly not Ikuto said. "we must devote all of Easter's resources to finding the Embryo. I have great expectations for tonight."

_How many are there? Are they all with Easter? _ Amu thought. I hope to Super God that she wasn't planning on rushing in there. She'd probably get killed right on the spot. Then they'd make me cover it up. Ulgh. I don't wanna clean that mess up!

Luckily for me, a crew member happened to pass by then.

"Hey. What are you doing?" Some crew member said. "This area is for authorized personnel only."

"I-I'm so sorry!" All of that anger and rage and "fight or flight" shit immediately went out the window as Amu quickly changed her mind upon getting caught and quickly ran off to find her friends.

* * *

You wanna know who just made my People I Will Eternally Hate List? Nguyễn Hà Đông. Don't know who he is? He's the guy who created _Flappy Bird_, the most impossible, unwinnable game ever created! Sarah suggested I download it to my phone and boy do I regret it! I have been standing out here for nearly two hours trying to get the damn bird through the first obstacle and every time I die! It's so frustrating! I've almost thrown my nice, brand new phone on the ground six times now. I'd stop playing, but it's the only game I have on my phone. So it's pretty much play this frustrating game or sit on the ground bored.

What might I be doing that's so boring I require entertainment from a mobile device? Well, that's easy! I don't know. The Director just told me to stand in front of this door way to a storage/stage prep area and told me not to let anyone who wasn't Yukari, Nikaidou, Ikuto, or a crew member in. Which I found strange and questioned why I had to, but the Director just told me to follow orders with the "or else" implied. Seeing as this was a very pointless job, I just decided to entertain myself with this piece of crap iPhone game.

Okay, I guess my job was to guard the door, but what was going on that required me to guard it? The reason why I'm so concerned about this is because the last time they told me to guard something, I inexplicably began going through puberty at the age of nine and when I went to the doctor about this, I was told I might develop something really, really bad like Leukemia or Lou Gehrig's Disease later on in life and that I'm probably not gonna be able to bear children. (Not that I'm crying over that last thing.) So, you can understand why I was concerned. I still don't know what I was exposed to, last time. All I know is that it was somewhere in the middle of Russia and all the animals I saw there looked funny.

After the six millionth time I died, I finally gave up on the stupid game and contented myself to sitting on the ground, bored. Just as I decided that, however, I heard a crew member ask someone what they were doing back there, and heard a frightened girl say "I-I'm sorry!" before running in my direction.

_Oh shit!_ I thought. _I let someone slip by!_ Saw the girl turn the corner and go right past me.

"Halt!" I shouted. The girl immediately came to a stop. Surprisingly without tripping or dropping her ice cream. "Dreh dich um."

"What?" The girl said.

_Oh shit, I'm thinking in German again…_

"Turn around." I said again, this time in the correct language. The girl turned around and I recognized her. "Hello, Amu."

"H-how do you know me?" She asked, she was obviously shaken by getting caught. It was also apparent she didn't recognize me. It's understandable, though. I mean, we only talked for about twenty seconds on the street and it was incredibly awkward.

"I'm Shady." I said. "You know, the girl you had an incredibly awkward encounter with a couple weeks ago."

She looked confused for a second as she tried to rack her brain to find such an encounter stored somewhere within her memory banks. Her face light up when she remembered, though.

"Oh." She said. "Now I remember."

"Good." I said. "Now, tell me, what was going on back there?"

"I-I-I swear I wasn't doing anything wrong!" She said going back into panic mode. "I just got lost! I was looking for my friends!"

"Calm down!" I said. "You're not in trouble. I just wanna know what they were talking about or doing or whatever."

"What?" She said. "That's all?"

"Yeah." I said. "That's all."

"Well, why should I tell you?" I hate when people pull that kind of shit.

"Because if they were doing something really, really bad and I get something scary like Lou Gehrig's disease, I'm gonna give it to you." Yes, I know that's a threat of medical terrorism and is extremely illegal, but I wouldn't actually do it. There are at least ten people I'd like to give this disease to before her, like Director Hoshina, Logan, Kim Jong Un, Hitler if those conspiracy theorists are right…

"What's Lou Gehrig's Disease?" Amu asked.

"Just know that the baseball player it's named after is dead now." I said. "And he suffered for a very long time before he died."

That obviously scared her enough to tell me.

"A-alright." She said. "I overheard them talking about taking X-Eggs from children."

"…" I just stood there incredulously. "What the hell does that mean?"

"What?" Amu asked.

"Can I die from that?" I asked. "What does it do? Or wait, is it a code?"

"Um…" Amu said. "I don't think you can di-"

"Oh shit, I can't die yet!" I started panicking. "I was planning on going all-out when I turned twenty-five and either dying from a drug overdose, in a night club shooting, or suicide via cop!"

"That's…" She said clearly disturbed. "That's horrible!"

"I know, right! Now I'll never reach my life goals!"

"N-no I meant that…" Then she thought about it. "Never mind."

"Oh god, I don't wanna die like this!"

"R-relax." Amu said obviously not knowing how to deal with this. "I know for a fact that it's not a code and you're not gonna die."

"I'm not gonna die?"

"You're not gonna die." For some reason I felt relieved hearing that. But then it occurred to me…

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Oh… Um…" Since it was obvious to Amu that I did not have a Guardian Character and did not know what X-Eggs were, she had trouble coming up with a logical explanation as to how she knew that I wouldn't die. I, however, thought that she had something that she either didn't want to tell me or couldn't tell me. I decided to just let it go. If someone doesn't want to tell me something or can't tell me something, I'm not gonna force it out of them unless it threatens myself or someone around me. Since I had been assured that I wasn't going to die and I had very good reason to believe she wasn't lying, I was under no threat.

"Fine then." I said. "Don't tell me. But," I quickly took the two melting ice creams out of her hands. "I'll be taking these."

"What?" She said confused for a second. "Hey! I paid for those with my own money!"

"And clearly you weren't gonna eat them as they were melting in your hands." I pointed out as I began walking away. "You know, there are starving children in Africa who would love to have just one lick of this!"

For a second, Amu just stood there furious that she was gonna have to get back in line and get two more ice creams for Yaya. What made the whole thing worse was that by the time that she had finally found her friends, the ice creams had melted again.

Yes, I know I'm a bitch.

* * *

The show was going to begin in a few minutes. The hundreds upon thousands of people who came to hear Utau sing were revved up and screaming at the top of their lungs. You could hear all the noise from hundreds of miles away. Seriously, people in Siberia were complaining about it.

"Let's go, Utau." Yukari said. Utau didn't move or say anything. She just stared at her reflection in the mirror. "Utau?"

"I quit." Utau said.

"What?" This was sudden.

"I'm not singing tonight." Utau said. "Sanjo-san, I agreed to look for the Embryo. But I don't want to be singing for that purpose." YES! THE GIRL HAS FINALLY SEEN THE LIGHT!

However, Yukari had an ace up her sleeve.

"So what?" Yukari said. "I already told you. You're obligated by contract to work for Easter. You and Ikuto-kun can no longer escape their grasp. You're like birds in a cage. Or would I rather call you butterflies? Honestly. I would've scouted a different girl if I'd known this would happen." Oh-no, here it comes. "That girl with three Guardian Characters. I believe her name was Hinamori Amu."

Utau stood up, having turned away for the light. I wish I hadn't spoken so soon…

"I won't lose." Utau said. "I won't lose to her."

She then began marching towards the stage to embrace the darkness.

* * *

Ikuto was going to see Utau before her concert like he promised. However, he heard everything Yukari said and heard Utau's promise not to be beaten by Amu. It was official. She had completely turned to the dark side for him.

* * *

Amu and her friends were sitting in their seats, among the thousands of cheering fans. So many people were cheering that it was hard to hear the music. Once people realized the song had started playing, they quieted a bit, but not much.

Suddenly, a spotlight landed center stage, and Utau began singing.

_"Open your shiny eyes in the silent night_

_Fushigi na yoru maiorita_

_Ashioto tatezu shinobiyoru_

_nayamashi ge na kuro neko no POOZU_

_Tsuki akari wo se ni ukabu SHIRUETTO_

_kocchi e oide to hohoende temaneki_

_Yokubou no kage ugomeku machi_

_Tenshi no furi de samayoi_

_Taisetsu sou ni kakaeteru_

_Ikiba no nai ai no kakera_

_Nemuri ni tsuku koro anata mo dokoka de_

_Shiawase na yume o mite iru no_

_Hoshizora ni KISU o shite ii ko wa mou oyasumi"_

Suddenly, black bat wings sprouted from Utau's back. And no, It wasn't part of the outfit she was wearing. That'd be impossible. It had an open back.

"Huh? Wings?" Amu wondered if it was part of the performance.

_"Mitsumenaide tsukamaenaide_

_Mayoikonda BATAFURAI_

_Jiyuu utau dare ni mo mienai hane"_

"It's about to start." Yukari said to the director from back stage.

* * *

Ikuto was still contemplating what heard Yukari say and what Nikaidou had told him before.

"That girl would do anything for you. She'd even choose to do very bad things."

_It's too late, isn't it?_ He thought.

* * *

_"Kakushiteru no anata no mune no oku"_ Utau sang as she pointed to the audience. Suddenly, the eggs of four of her fans appeared in the air.

_"Kagami no naka no omokage wa" _She continued as if there was nothing horribly wrong happening.

_"Nakimushi datta ano koro_

_Dakeredomou kodomo ja nai_

_Nobashita kami wo hodoita"_

Other people, however, noticed.

"No way!" Amu said in shock as she looked up at the eggs. "Are those…"

"Heart's Eggs?" Yaya finished.

"For real?!" Kukai said.

"In a place like this?" Tadase said.

They were in disbelief. They shouldn't be. This **is** an Easter event. Those always end badly. Like that time they had that dinner party and all of their top executives got drunk and started saying Anti-Semitic things and members of the Associated Press were there and called them out on it. That was probably the funniest thing that aired on NHN all year.

"_Mune wo shimetsukeru amai FUREGURANSU_

_Yuuwaku shiteru kizuite iro_

_Kotoba wo nakushita kuchibiru ni mahou kaketa no"_

"Utau's singing has a magic-like power." Yukari explained to the Director. "It causes children to have big dreams, leaving their hearts defenseless and making it easier to take their eggs." She smiled inwardly at her "sure not to fail" plan. "Well, will the Embryo be among today's eggs? If not, they'll just be garbage."

"_Mitsumenaide tsukamaenaide_

_Mayoikonda BATAFURAI_

_Itoshi sugi-"_

**SLAM!**

A light had suddenly and inexplicably fallen from the scaffolding and slammed a few feet from Utau. The music was immediately cut, the house lights came on, and everyone started to become confused as to what was going on.

**CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!**

The entire scaffolding system fell right onto the stage. Utau had been ushered off the stage as soon as the first light had fallen, so she didn't get hurt but it was pretty obvious the show wasn't going to continue.

People, in confusion and fear, began running and trampling each other to get out. So many people were trying to get out that the exits became blocked with bodies. Ah, the mob mentality, don't you love it? It didn't help that some idiot installed the doors so that way they opened on the inside of the theater, not the outside. To make matters even worse, someone felt it was necessary to shout "**OH MY GOD! IT'S AL-QAEDA!**" in a crowd full of panicked, fearful people.

Yes, I know I'm a bitch.

* * *

Yukari and Utau stood off to the side of the stage as pretty much everyone else was racing for dear life to the exits because they thought they were going to die by the hands of Al-Qaeda. The watched as the four eggs overhead turned to X-Eggs.

"What a shame." Yukari said. "I guess none of them were the Embryo. Utau, let's go."

Utau just looked away from the X-Eggs, feeling a mixture of slight shame and disappointment.

* * *

Ikuto stood on the roof of the concert hall Character Changed while watching as people slowly trickled out of the building. A lot of them were bruised and bloodied and saying something about this being a terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda. (Which Ikuto didn't find believable as Al-Qaeda didn't have any sort of beef with Japan.)

Yoru was floating next to him, sniffing the air for the scent of the X-Eggs.

"I smell X-Eggs!" He exclaimed once he picked up the scent. "Let's hurry, Ikuto! If we don't deal with them soon, we're gonna have one big mess-nya."

"I know." Ikuto said just before jumping down from the roof.

* * *

Amu was one of the lucky few that had made it out of the theater before the bodies started piling up. Her friends had made it out, too, but they were inside the hall's main lobby looking for her. Amu was somewhere outside the hall. She didn't see any other people around, so she assumed she ran somewhere around the side or back of the hall.

"Wh-what happened?" She wondered aloud. "I got separated from everyone else. What should I do?" All of a sudden she got a bad, sinking feeling. "What's this feeling?" She turned around and saw the four X-Eggs from earlier floating there.

"X-Eggs?!" She exclaimed. "Are they the ones from earlier?" No, someone else just decided to rip the hearts eggs out of children. What do you think?

One of the eggs began shaking and began to crack, revealing an X-Character that was trying to emerge.

"Meikyuu, Meikyuu Butterfly." It said ominously.

"What do I do?" Amu thought aloud. "Without my Guardian Characters, I can't Character Change or Chara Nari!"

Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Ikuto suddenly jumped up in the air and Chara Naried with Yoru to become Black Lynx. His school uniform (Which I don't know why he was wearing because he hadn't had school for the past week.) was replaced with a short, navy top with a silver cross attached to it and long navy pants. He wore also wore long, handless gloves with sharp, Wolverine-like claws attached to them. The Dumpty Key was chained around his right wrist and he had the usual cat ears and tail he had when he Character Changed.

Alright, totally off topic here, but minus the key and the ears and the tail and the Wolverine Claws, doesn't Ikuto's outfit sound like something a male stripper would wear? I mean seriously! What the fuck? Does he have some secret sexual perversion that he's not telling us about? Christ!

As he landed on the ground, he scooped up the X-Egg and the X-Character inside. Amu looked on awestruck.

_Did he Chara Nari?_ She thought. No, he just woke up this morning and decided to run around dressed like a male stripper. What do you think?

Ikuto squeezed the egg so that way it closed, trapping the X-Character inside.

"What are you going to do with that egg?" Amu demanded to know. "Tell me! Were you the one who turned them into X-Eggs? Yuki-chan, Yamada-kun, and Maika-chan… All of their eggs…"

Ikuto said nothing.

"Did you!?"

The egg being crushed into a million pieces was his only response.

"Th-the egg was…" Ran said as she and the other Guardian Characters arrived.

"How could he?" Kiseki, Tadase's Guardian Character, said.

"Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed as she Miki, and Su floated up to their owner.

"The egg…" Amu said softly in shock. "What's going to happen to its owner and the Character inside."

Just then, the apparent owner of the egg happened to pass by with either his mother.

"I've always known it's impossible to become a singer, realistically speaking." He said.

"Just so you know…" Ikuto finally said. "Even without my help, most people break unneeded eggs. That's what happened to all the adults walking around with tired looks on their faces. They've long abandoned the egg holding who they wanted to be."

"No…" Amu said. She began feeling all of that anger and rage from before building up inside her again. "It really was you. You did all of it." Ikuto turned so he wasn't facing her. "I hate you!" She shouted. "I **hate** you!"

Ikuto didn't say anything. He just stood there and took it.

All of Amu's friends decided to show up then.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" Tadase exclaimed when he saw Ikuto there. (Apparently he still has sand in his vagina over whatever happened between the two of them. I don't know.)

"Look! Look!" Yaya exclaimed. "X-Eggs!" She pointed over the three other eggs that had begun to hatch as well.

"Meikyuu, Meikyuu Butterfly!" All three said ominously.

"Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed, indicating that Amu should Chara Nari as well.

"Right!" Amu said. "My own heart, unlock!"

And with those words, she began her transformation into the pink cheerleader, Amulet heart. Upon seeing her, the X-Characters went back into their eggs and tried to fly away.

"Amu-chan, they're getting away!" Miki exclaimed.

"I know." She said and she quickly sprang into action. "Negative Heart!" She shouted as she made a heart shape with her hands around the lock. "Lock on!" Just then beams of energy came out of the lock and surrounded the X-Eggs. "Open Heart!" And with that, the X-Eggs returned to normal and flew off to find their owners. Amu looked on as the eggs flew off, but quickly turned her attention back to Ikuto.

"I've made up my mind." She said. "I won't let you win!"

"Hinamori-san." Tadase said as he and the others moved closer.

"If Easter puts X's on everyone's eggs," Amu said. "then I'll cleanse them all!"

With that, Ikuto decided it probably a good idea to jump away and disappear into the night.

* * *

When I got home, it was the crack of dawn. It took me awhile to get out of the theater seeing as bodies had started piling up in the doors and the big guys that were hired to protect everyone who was preforming that night wouldn't let anyone go out the back door. (This is dangerous, given the situation.) Even though I had been up since five a.m. the previous day, I didn't feel tired. I blame the excitement of the panic and the fact that I drank about five Red Bulls at the concert.

Once I got home, I went upstairs to make sure Ikuto got out alive. He did, thank god. He had apparently collapsed from exhaustion. I don't blame him. So much went on last night. He didn't even make an effort to even pull the covers over himself, so I got an extra blanket off the foot of the bed and threw it over him. I glanced at his face for a second. Though most of it was buried into the pillow, the tiny portion of it that I could see looked like it was wet with tears. I thought about waking him up and asking him what was wrong, but decided against it as I would probably get nowhere and make the situation worse. So, I left the room without saying anything.

After that, I went in my room, got in my jammies and continued where I left off on an episode of _South Park_.

Karen McCormick sat in bed crying because she had been separated from her parents and put into foster care. Just then, the shadow of a figure came over her and she stopped when she noticed.

"Huh?" She said. "Oh, it's you." She smiled at the figure. It was her brother, Kenny, as his superhero identity Mysterion crouched in the window. However, as far as she knew, it was her "Guardian Angel". "I was wondering when you'd appear. You always come when I'm sad."

"You are going to be okay, Karen!" Mysterion assured her. "You have to keep believing that!"

"Why did my mommy and daddy go to jail?" She asked.

Mysterion thought about it for a second and then said: "Sometimes, people do stupid things. Sometimes they don't realize what should have come first. Until it's too late."

"But I'm all alone now."

"You are not alone." Mysterion said. "No matter where you go, no matter what you do, I will always be here! Do you understand?"

"I'll try, Guardian Angel."

"Don't try, Karen. Do."

* * *

**The reason why I was excited about an "L" being in the title because on the Word Document I have this all saved on the chapter titles are written in the same font L uses for his L. I'm probably not making any sense and look weird... Oh, well.**

**So this is my longest chapter yet! Over five-thousand words and eleven pages! Oh, god! I'm just happy to be done! Now I can move on to the next chapter! :)**

**Thank you to x.x.x.-Shizuko Katsuyuki-x.x.x for reviewing and following! :)**

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 3/13/14**


	17. Chicka Chicka Slim Shady

**_South Park _is gonna sue me!**

**"My Name is" by Eminem**

* * *

"Marceline."

"Mn…"

"Marceline."

"Ngh…"

"Wake up, motherfucker."

"Agh… Shut up, Mom! I'm tryn' to sleep."

"I'm not your mother, dumb ass."

"Well, whoever the fuck you are, shut up! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Don't tell me to shut up."

"Oh, I can tell you whatever the fuck I want! You're just a voice! You can't hurt me!"

"Oh, you think I can hurt you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, how do you like this?"

And then my head exploded, sending pieces of brains, skull, and blood everywhere.

* * *

I woke up sprawled out on the floor of my bedroom with the DVD menu on the screen. I must have fallen asleep while watching _South Park_. I sat up and looked around. The clock on my wall read noon. Great, I didn't waste my whole day. I got up, took a shower in my bathroom and got dressed.

I went downstairs to get myself something to eat. Maybe a Pop Tart or something? I wasn't sure. When I got to the bottom of the stairs I saw Ikuto sitting on the couch watching some Anime. I forget the name of it, but it had something to do with robots coming out of a kid's head.

"Hey." I said walking over to him. "Happy Twenty-thirty-nine."

"Happy twenty-thirty-nine." He said, keeping his eyes on the screen.

"Wha'cha watchin'?" I asked.

"_Fooly Cooly_." He said.

"Oh." I said. "Can I watch, too?"

"Why?" He asked.

"What do you mean why?"

"You hate Anime."

"What? No, I don't."

"Yeah, you do."

"When did I say that?"

"A few months ago you watched _Bleach_ with me and you said it was 'the most fucking retarded show you've ever seen'." Oh. That is true. I did say that.

"Oh, come on! That was just one Anime."

"When you watched _One Piece _with me you kept complaining about how the show made no sense, even though I told you multiple times that you had to watch from the beginning to get it." I don't remember watching that, though. I might have been drunk…

"Well, then I guess I shouldn't have watched that one then if it's so confusing." I said. "Just because those two sucked doesn't mean I hate all Anime."

"When you watched _Naruto_ you screamed: 'That's it! I'm giving up on this entertainment platform! If someone can come up with something as shitty as this I don't wanna watch anything similar or having to do with this!' For which I don't blame you. _Naruto _is a pretty shitty Anime. But still…"

"Alright!" I said. "I get it! I haven't liked all the Anime I've seen in the past but maybe I'll like this one!"

"Is there something wrong?" Ikuto asked.

"No." I said. "Why?"

"'Cause you're pretty insistent on watching this with me." He said. "Is this our last day on Earth or something?"

"Oh, come on!" I said. "Why do you automatically assume it's the last day on earth if I just wanna watch some stupid Anime with you?"

"Because you wanna watch some stupid Anime with me."

"Nothing's wrong." I said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, fine then." He said while he scooted over on the couch to make room for me. I sat down and actually legitimately tried to watch the show…

For five seconds. I was immediately lost as to what was going on. Some pink-haired girl was going through someone's draws and said something about respecting the privacy of others. What the hell? If you think you should be respecting the privacy of others, don't go through their draws, you idiot! Why was she going through that person's draws anyway? And then for some reason some cuff or whatever she had on started jingling or shaking or whatever, then it cut to a girl covering her ears and saying she was going to overflow. Then the girl fell on the ground and something weird started happening to the boy she was with. A nearby building started lighting up and the boy looked like he was experiencing a really bad headache. Then something burst out of his head… It was a robot.

_Okay! _I thought._ That's it! I give up! I'm completely lost! I'm not able to follow this anymore!_

I turned my attention away from the screen and looked at Ikuto. He was just expressionlessly staring at the screen, watching the show. I was looking for any sign that something was wrong with him. I was fairly certain that he had been crying the night before and if I asked him about it, he'd deny the allegations. He's not the type to share what's bothering him. I remember a few years ago he got appendicitis and kept insisting that he was fine and nothing was wrong until his appendix actually burst, he contracted sepsis and nearly died. (I should note that my mother did notice the symptoms, but believed him when he said he was fine and didn't push the matter any farther. I still hold this against her.)

After a few minutes, Ikuto noticed my staring.

"Alright, something's up." He said.

"What?" I said. "Nothing's wrong."

"Then why do you keep staring at me?"

"I don't know." I said. "You look hotter than you usually do today?" He gave me a weird look.

"That's disturbing, Marceline." He said.

"Wouldn't be me if I wasn't disturbing." I said.

"Marceline." He said.

"Ikuto." I said. He sighed.

"Look, if I gave you two-thousand yen, would you leave me alone?" He asked.

"Two-thousand yen?" I asked in disbelief. "Where did you get that kind of money?"

"Found it on the street yesterday." He simply said. It was pretty apparent that he didn't think anything of it.

"Isn't that stealing?" I asked. I had to use the word stealing to monitor his reaction. If he was lying, he'd just outright deny it. If he was telling the truth, he'd just ask me if I wanted the money.

"Do you want it?" He asked.

"Yes, please." I said.

* * *

I ended up just going to a movie. I saw _300: Rise of an Empire_. All I have to say about that movie is that if you saw the first one, you know what to expect. I had a lot of candy left over from the movie. Although tickets cost one-thousand, one-hundred yen, I saved all that money by sneaking in the theater through the emergency exit door. It was actually surprising to me that someone could get in there that way. I thought after what happened in Colorado, they'd start blocking those doors, but no.

I knew there was gonna be no way I'd finish all of that candy by myself, so I went to Nashi's house where I knew everyone would be.

"Hey guys!" I said as I jumped into the basement. "Guess what I have?"

"A puppy!" Akiko excitedly guessed.

"Oh, Christ, no!" I said. "I'm not cruel enough to bring a defenseless animal down here for Kimura to beat."

"HEY!" Kimura shouted.

"No, I actually have, drum roll please…" Silence. "I said drum roll, please!"

"There aren't any drums here, you dumb whore." Kimura said.

"I know that!" I retorted. "Just go duh-da-da-da-da-da-da-da until I unveil it!"

"That's retarded!" With that, Sarah kicked Kimura. "OW! THAT HURT YOU FUCKING WHORE! OW!" My fist collided with the back of his skull.

"Don't call my best friend a whore, jackass!" I said.

"FUCK THIS!" Kimura shouted. "I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THIS!" And then he got up and left.

"Alright…" I said. "Now that he's gone, drum roll please!"

"Do we really have to?" Shizuka asked.

"Yes." I said. "Now, drum roll please!" Everyone collectively sighed.

**Duh-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da…**

"FREE CANDY!" I shouted.

There was silence.

"Candy?" Minami said.

"Y… Yeah…" I said. "That… That isn't awesome?"

"No, it's not." Akiko said.

"Why not?" I asked a little sadly.

"Because we're not five." Shizuka said. "The most a candy bar costs is like… What? Two-hundred yen? That's nothing. Now if you came down here and said free beer, that'd be a different story."

"Come on!" I said. "Nothing tastes better than free candy!"

"What about five-finger discount candy?" Sarah asked.

"…Okay, that is pretty good." I admitted.

"And five-finger discount beer?" Akiko asked.

"Well, once you get past the burn of the alcohol it's pretty good." I said.

"And five-finger discount sex?" Minami asked.

"What's five-finger discount sex?" I asked.

"It's where you have sex with a prostitute and don't pay her." Minami explained.

"Isn't that kind of rape?" I asked.

"Not if she doesn't ask for the money up front." Minami said.

"Okay, I get it." I said as I collapsed on to the couch next to Sarah. "It was stupid of me to bring free candy instead of free beer. I'll remember that next time."

"Can we still have the candy?" Chouko asked. Her eyes gave me a look that said "please, sir, I want some more". That's right. Chouko only eats when someone brings food over here.

"You can have the entire bag if you want." I said reaching across the table to hand the food over to her. "I'm fairly certain that if I eat any more sugar, my breakfast will make a reappearance." Yup, no one wants to see the _Kit Kat_, _Sour Patch Kids_, and liter and a half of _Pepsi_ that my breakfast consisted of.

"Thank you!" Chouko said extremely grateful for the food.

"By the way, where did you get all that candy?" Sarah asks. "Did a guy in a windowless van give it to you?"

"No." I said. "My brother gave me two-thousand yen to get out of the house."

"So had two-thousand yen and instead of buying beer you got twenty pounds of candy?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"All I'd be able to buy with that much money is a six pack." I said. "Besides, I look too young. They'd never sell to me."

Two things I'd like to point out here. The first thing is-and I know this is off topic-I don't know why people complain about the high price of cigarettes when the price of beer is much higher. If the price of a six-pack of beer is two-thousand yen and the price of a ten pack of cigarettes is one-thousand yen. That means one beer in a six pack is worth about three-hundred yen while one cigarette in a ten pack is worth one-hundred yen. That pisses me off. Cigarettes are worse for you in my opinion because they cause a plethora of cancers. The worst I'm aware that alcohol can do to you is damage your liver and cause you to make horrible decisions while operating a motor vehicle. Livers and cars are replaceable. Lungs and lymph nodes are irreplaceable. That's why I don't understand why the price of alcohol is so high.

Two, the fact that no one would ever sell alcohol to me isn't that much of a shock. I mean, while everyone here thinks I'm seventeen, I am truly eleven years old. The only reason why I think everyone here believes my claim that I am seventeen is because I act older than my age. If you don't believe that, then I'll ask you how many eleven-year-olds do you know that use the words "shit" and "fuck" as much as I do and have the same amount of sexual knowledge that I have? If a name came to your mind I feel sorry for you. Oh, it also might help my case on my age that I have four tattoos and more scars than I can count.

I sat there for a few seconds, thinking about nothing in particular when I remember something.

"Hey wait!" I said. "Akiko gave you guys free chocolate and you guys were all for it."

Then the room went silent again.

"Shady, have you even had the chocolate yet?" Shizuka asked.

"No." I said. "Why?"

"Uh, well…" Akiko said. "I made it myself and there's kind of a …special ingredient… in the chocolate."

"Special ingredient?" I repeated. Oh dear lord, please don't let it be pot! Not only can I not get high off of that stuff, but it makes everything smell like a skunk and tastes horrible when eaten. If she gave me pot laced chocolate, I'm gonna be pissed. Luckily, Sarah elaborated on what the secret ingredient was.

"It's X." She said. Oh, thank god it was only X.

For those of you who aren't as street savvy as us, X is short for XTC, otherwise known as ecstasy or methylenedioxy-n-methylamphetamine (MDMA). It's a psychedelic amphetamine that causes you to feel extremely connected and empathetic towards others. Although it is most frequently sold as tablets, you can also get them in capsules or in powdered form. It was invented sometime in nineteen-ninety-six by Dr. Gerald Ya Ya and his partner Dave. The worst thing that can happen to you if you take the drug is that if you take too much your back could start resembling the McDondald's Arches and you'll experience a seizure. Don't worry, you'll be fine as long as you live close to a hospital and you're friends aren't stupid enough to just watch and laugh as you slowly die on the floor.

I do admit to taking this drug several times in the past. The only reason I can give to justify my use of it is that it took away all the negative emotions such as anger, depression, and anxiety and made me feel… I can't really describe what I felt… I suppose euphoric would be the correct word to use, but such a description feels weak compared to what I really felt. Now that I do think about it, I don't think that any words can describe the effect that X had on me. It was just that good.

Of course, I'm not encouraging or promoting that anyone should go out and do this. If you take certain kinds of X like Molly (Which is pure MDMA.) you run the risk of overdosing faster than Amy Winehouse and if you do go out and decide to do drugs because of what I've just said and you O.D., they're gonna come for me and I'm gonna have to grow a goatee and get a disguise and hide 'cause it'll be my fault. So don't do drugs and do exactly as I don't 'cause I'm bad for you.

"Oh." Was all I said before allowing the topic to change to something different.

After about an hour Suzuki came down and shouted free beer which everyone went crazy over and made me feel even more like an idiot. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I drank half the twenty-four pack and can no longer remember what happened between then and the next day.

* * *

On Monday, January Third, Twenty-thirty-nine, millions of workers across Japan returned to work. The over seven-thousand people who worked in Easter's main international headquarters were in for a shock, though. Their place of business had been very extremely vandalized. Toilet paper hung from the trees, windows were broken, and it looked like someone even did a drive-by with a paintball gun. The inside as much worse. There was broken glass everywhere, paintings and photos were torn from the wall, the computers at the receptionists' desk/help center were smashed, a plant was pulled out of its pot and thrown across the room, and a giant big screen TV that was positioned on the wall behind reception was shattered. Although no one knew who did it, there was a big hint written on one of the walls in the back of the extremely large room.

On the walls, the kanji for "Satsujin-sha!" or "Murderers!" was written on the walls in red spray paint. Underneath it, a name was signed.

That name was Slim Shady.

* * *

**Eminem'll probably sue me, too.**

**Nothing I can really say about this chapter. I put a lot of filler in there because I wasn't sure in what direction I wanted to take this, but I have it figured out now. **

**Oh, if you have time, look up the song "Cups" by Anna Kendrick. I don't know why but it's been stuck in my head all week.**

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 3/22/14**


	18. The Real Slim Shady

**Fucking website won't let me use lyrics!**

**"The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem**

* * *

If an atomic bomb went off in the middle of Tokyo right now, I think more people would be dead from coming face to face with Hoshina Kazuomi's rage than would be dead from the explosion. This was a serious blow to the company's reputation to have the main headquarters so severely vandalized. (I don't know how that would hurt the company's reputation. I mean, what does a vandalized building have to do with stocks and all that other bullshit? I don't know. The business world is weird.) If someone didn't pay for it fast, you can bet that I would be getting called to cover up something.

Director Hoshina sat behind his desk while he spoke with Koizumi Arata, Easter's Head of Security. Although he was wearing that unreadable expression that he always wore, it wasn't hard to guess that the Director was pissed more than he usually was.

"Security cameras did pick up several figures breaking into the building at around twenty-one hundred hours last night and leaving at oh-two hundred this morning." As Koizumi said that, his fearful moderate blue eyes dashed around the room. He was expecting to be shot in the head at any given moment. Koizumi was normally not such a coward, but given the fact that he was dealing with the Director of Easter-arguably the second most powerful man in the world-one can understand why he was airing on the side of caution when speaking to him.

"And?" Director Hoshina in that incomprehensible tone he always used.

"…And we were unable to identify any of the figures in the video." Koizumi fearfully admitted. "They had their faces covered and wore black from head to toe. We can't even tell how many there were due to the fact that the security cameras only film in low-quality black and white stills."

The Director stayed silent. Koizumi stayed silent as well, fearing that speaking when not directly spoken to would only land him in even hotter water. The silence was broken a few minutes later when the Director's personal assistant/secretary, Watanabe, came barging into the office without knocking.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir," The petite blonde woman said. "but Joel Lawrence from the London office is on the phone and he wants to know what's going on with the whole Crimea situation."

"Tell him what we told Mr. Petrov yesterday." The Director said.

"I did and he said he wanted to speak with you directly." Watanabe explained. "…Something about being unable to justify six Russian Ambassadorial offices and none in the Ukraine."

"Fine." The Director said. "Patch him through to my personal line."

"Yes, sir." Watanabe said with a curt nod before returning to her desk down the hall.

"Koizumi-san, you're dismissed." The Director nearly ordered him to leave. Koizumi couldn't have been more relived to have gotten out of there alive. He, much like Watanabe, nodded curtly said something along the lines of "Yes, sir" before taking his leave.

Kazuomi briefly turned his attention to the Tokyo skyline before taking the call.

* * *

For once in my life, I had a dreamless sleep. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing because it came along with the feeling that I was run over by a bus carrying the maximum capacity of obese people while I was asleep. I hadn't even fully opened my eyes yet and I had aches and sores all over my body. I tried shifting from lying on my left side to lying on my right and it felt like someone unleashed a rain of machinegun fire from the ceiling.

"Ow…" I groaned. To be honest, this isn't the worst I've ever felt, but it's definitely in the top one-hundred. I'm not gonna advise against going out and getting drunk ('Cause sometimes life just sucks so much that you need to go out and get flat out drunk.) but just know the consequences of your actions. If you start losing count of how many beers you drank, that's probably a red flag that you're gonna have a pretty damn bad hangover the next day. …And that you should probably give your keys to someone else… Preferably someone who isn't also drunk… Learned that one the hard way…

When I finally convinced myself to get out of bed, it seemed my stomach decided to make me feel worse by twisting in knots and forcing its contents upwards. I rushed into the bathroom and watched as the disgusting tasting liquid forced its way out of my mouth.

"Fuck." I muttered as I coughed up the last of it. "I am never getting drunk again."

* * *

"And now…" The announcer on the television said. "Channel Five News at Five with Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons." The screen quickly changed from some generic news graphic to Tom and Diane sitting at the news desk.

"Good evening." Diane Simmons, a woman with short brown hair and reddish-brown eyes said. "Breaking news tonight, still no news on what happened to that Malaysian Airlines jet, but we've brought a homeless person who claims to be psychic to tell us horrible things that **may** have happened to the flight."

"But first," Tom, a mustached man with brown hair and blue eyes said. "we have Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa with some bullshit story that we're putting on before our sensationalist story to keep you watching and keep our ratings high. Tricia."

They then cut to the only Asian reporter they had on their show despite the fact that this is Japan and nearly everyone on this fucking island is fucking Japanese. She was short, had short black hair, and brown eyes.

"Tom, I am standing in front of the International Easter Corporation Headquarters which has just been horribly vandalized." Tricia said. "It is unknown who carried out this criminal act, but police have video evidence." Then a few stills from the security camera footage came up on the screen, showing hooded figures frozen in mid-run. "They won't let us show the full video on television, however if you recognize anyone in these images, you've been asked to contact the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on their website or Crime Stoppers either by going to their website or calling 1-800-222-TIPS. That's 1-800-222-8477."

I burst out laughing. Once I had pretty much finished barfing up nearly my entire digestive system, I took a shower. I had just gotten out and was going into the kitchen to get myself a glass of water so I could take some aspirin for the hangover when I saw that on the TV in the living room.

_Oh, that's just fucking hilarious!_ I thought. _I can't wait to find out who the person who did that was so that way I can send them a personal thank you!_ It took a few minutes to collect myself again, only to immediately burst out into laughter due to the accusations the homeless guy was making. He seriously suggested that the plane went through a wormhole and ended up in another dimension! What the fuck? What is this, _The Langoliers_? This guy doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about! They're probably gonna find the damn plane somewhere in the ocean.

After a good twenty minutes of laughing so hard that I made my headache worse, I decide it's probably a good idea to get up off the floor and get myself some aspirin.

I get my aspirin and go back upstairs. I went in my room and was about to put on _South Park_ or _Family Guy_ or something when my phone started ringing.

My phone started playing that "Drop Those Titties on the Floor" song. I love that ringtone. Thank you Onision!

I pick up the phone and am immediately presented with the sound of a woman laughing and saying something in some other language. At least, I think it's another language. The loud music in the background makes it hard to tell.

"Who is this?" I ask.

"What?" The person on the other end of the line said.

"I asked who it is I'm speaking to." I said

"What?" They ask again.

"DAMN IT!" I shouted. "TURN THE GOD DAMN MUSIC DOWN!"

"Oh, sorry." They say and I hear the volume of the music go down.

"Thank you." I said. "Now, who is this?"

"Wow, don't you look at the caller ID?" I can't tell if they're being sarcastic or serious. "It's me. Sarah."

"Oh." I say. "Sorry, I didn't check the caller ID before I picked up."

"Eh." She says. "It's cool, dude. I do that all the time."

"Really?" I say. "Do you also call people while you have the stereo turned all the way up?"

"You know that stuff is like white noise to me." Sarah says. "I listen to it all the time. I sometimes don't even realize I have it on." Oh, yeah, that is true. "Are you okay? You're sound snappier than you usually are. Wait, let me guess, it's that time of the month."

"No!" I say defensively. I don't know why I found that embarrassing. Probably because I know that can't happen to me and if it does I've been instructed by some of the top medical officials in the country to stick a pistol in my mouth and pull the trigger. I'm still very suspicious as to what I was exposed to in Russia. "It's just probably the damn hangover."

"Aw." Sarah said in a little bit of (possibly feigned) sadness. "I was hoping for someone to be miserable with."

"Eh, well, too bad for you." I said. "Hey, why didn't you stop me last night? You know I can't handle more than five!"

"Lightweight." Sarah said.

"Sarah, I'm serious here!" I said. "I can't even remember anything that happened last night after I downed my sixth beer!"

"Hey, I'm not you're mother!" Sarah pointed out. "It's your own fault for drinking yourself so far under the table you can't remember you were under there!"

"What?" I said.

"Never mind." Sarah said. She sucks with analogies and shit like that.

"So," I say, fearing what I may hear. "what happened last night?"

"Wait," Sarah says. "You seriously can't remember?"

"Nope." I simply stated.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Sarah said in disbelief. "No one can forget a night like that, even if they were shitfaced through most of it!"

"What do you mean?" I ask. "What happened?"

"Oh…" Sarah said. "Where do I begin? Tell me, what's the last thing that you remember?"

"Um…" I said, trying to get a clear mental vision of the events of last night but getting nothing but static. Eventually, though, something fuzzy comes into view. "I think I might have been on my seventh beer… Suzuki said something about Lori Laughlin…"

"Oh yeah!" Sarah said while laughing. "You picked a funny place to start from, my friend.

* * *

Apparently we were talking about what celebrities from the eighties we'd like to fuck. Sarah said Patrick Swayze because all the dance training he got to prepare for _Dirty Dancing_ made him "as limber as fuck". Akiko said she'd fuck Jonathan Taylor Tomas, but when we informed her that he was from the nineties, not the eighties, she seemed confused and we let her skip the turn.

Suzuki was next and he said he'd fuck Lori Laughlin. I burst out laughing. I honestly couldn't believe he said that. I mean, yeah, in the eighties Lori Laughlin was very pretty, but she wasn't a PYT or anything. I'm pretty sure she was in her early thirties when she started working on _Full House_ and looked pretty average for her age. He insisted, however, that she was more than fuckable. So, I asked him what he would do if the version of Lori Laughlin that existed in nineteen-eighty-seven came bursting into the room and begged him to fuck her. He gave an amused laugh in response.

"I'd merely follow the teachings of one of my favorite psalms." He said.

"Oh yeah?" I said in a very slurred manner due to all the alcohol. "What's that?"

"It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation." He said at a fast pace. "This kind of penetration increases the population of the younger generation."

"What?" I said with drunk laughter.

"It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation." He repeated. "This kind of penetration increases the population of the younger generation."

I bust out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, Christ! Where did you learn that?"

"The Urban Dictionary." Of course.

"Oh my god…" I said, unable to catch my breath from the laughter. "You have got to teach me that. How'd it go again?"

"Okay." He said. "It goes: It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation. This kind of penetration increases the population of the younger generation." For some reason, hearing it slower made me laugh so hard I dropped my beer on the floor, causing the contents of the can to spill on the rug. Sarah, who was sitting next to me and trying to suppress her laughter (She was sober enough to realize how immature this was, but not sober enough to think of it as not being funny.) as she picked the can up off the floor for me and put it on the coffee table.

"Thanks." I said though my laughter.

"No problem." She said while trying to suppress her own.

Shizuka looked at us with a weird expression.

"You guys are so immature." She said.

"Oh, shut up, Shizuka." Sarah said.

"Yeah." I said. "Shut the fuck up. You don't know nuthin'. …'bout anythin'." I laughed. "Now it goes 'It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's oper-'"

"No, separation." Suzuki corrected. "It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation. This kind of penetration will increase the population of the younger generation."

"Oh." I said. "It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation to increase the population of the younger generation."

"No, you skipped a line." Suzuki corrected again. "The second part is: This kind of penetration will increase the population of the younger generation."

"Oh, okay." I said. "I think I got it now." I took a deep breath. "It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation. This kind of penetration will increase the population of the younger generation." I paused for a moment. "Did I get it right?"

"Uh, yeah." He said. "I think you got it right that time."

"YES!" I cheered. "Oh, my mother would be so proud of me! You know if she was normal and not second runner-up for the cover of crack-whore monthly."

"Why is she only second runner-up?" Sarah asked.

"Because I think Liane Cartman has that title claimed for life." I laughed. "Nah, but seriously, my mom needs to get a handle on some of her shit."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, genuinely concerned.

"Well," I said. "she's always in her room cryin', or doped up on meds, or yellin' at me. She's just enablin' everyone around her to take advantage of her or me or Ikuto or Utau…"

"What do you mean by 'take advantage of'?" Sarah just instantly thought that when I said 'take advantage of' I meant it as a euphemism for rape. She's had Akiko and Chouko admit to being raped a couple of times while drunk before and in her mind it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that I've been raped before, too. I know, it's my own fault for phrasing it like that, but I was drunk. I didn't know what I was saying and got by best friend panicked for nothing. I did apologize when she told me this part.

"Ah, she just lets people walk all over her." I said. "Especially Easter."

"Easter?" She said. "That name sounds familiar… I think my dad might be one of their investors."

"Well, congratulations." I said. "Your father is a bastard." I laughed.

"I already knew that." Sarah said. "But why do you say that.

"Anyone who works for or is involved with Easter is a bastard." I said. "Bastards who need to be taught a lesson."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked. "What'd they do?"

"You wanna know what I've always wanted to do?" I asked, ignoring Sarah's question. "I've always wanted to go down there and fuck that building up. You know, just trash the place and give 'em a taste of their own medicine."

"Yeah, but what'd they do?" Sarah asked.

"You know what, let's do it." I said. "Let's go down there and fuck that building up."

"Aw, screw it." Sarah said. "I don't know what they did wrong, but obviously it's upsetting you and that's all the justification I need to do this." She turned her attention to everyone else. "You guys wanna do this, too?"

"What?" Shizuka said having not heard mine and Sarah's conversation at all.

"We're gonna go fuck up the Easter Building." Sarah said. "Want in?"

"Easter?" A puzzled Suzuki said. "Why?"

"Who cares why?" Sarah said. "All that matters is we're going to cause serious damage to someone else's property! Now who's with us?"

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait!" I said. "Hold up! I said what?"

"That you wanted to go down and fuck up the Easter Building." Sarah said again.

I started getting a sinking feeling.

"And you…"

"I asked if anyone wanted to join us."

"Please tell me everyone said no." I said desperately.

"Nah, they were all for it." Sarah said. "Except for Akiko, of course, she stayed behind but everyone else went. Oh man, you should have seen…"

At that point I stopped listening. Or, more like I couldn't listen. I froze. I still held the cell phone in my hand, but everything else went numb. I couldn't see. All I could do was retreat into myself and take in the information I just learned.

_It's my fault._ I thought. _I'm going to die._

I could feel myself hyperventilating and I felt like I was having a heart attack or something. I also started noticing that I had tunnel vision and felt like I was going to vomit.

_Panic attack_. I thought. I dropped the phone, leaving a concerned Sarah calling my name on the other end of the line. I ran into my bathroom and to the toilet. I knew I was gonna throw up eventually and wanted to be prepared for it when I did.

I stayed on the bathroom floor all night, worried about how Easter would react to my blatant defiance.

* * *

I spent a week trying to avoid Easter at all costs. That isn't something that's easy for me to do, seeing as I'm pretty much being held hostage by them. My contract with them says that if I leave the Kanto Region (For those of you who don't know, that's the Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, and Tokyo Prefectures.) or deliberately avoid them or act in a manner that casts them in a bad light and or ruins their business, they have the right to open the firing squad on my family. Why did I agree to that? Easy. I was eight and didn't know what I was agreeing to. I didn't read the contract before I signed it and I didn't get a lawyer to read it and see what I was agreeing to. I really wish I had, though. That would've saved me a lot of pain.

The first day I avoided Easter was spent in my bathroom. I locked myself in there when I had my panic attack and I was scared to go outside of the bathroom for an entire day after. I thought if I left there then a sniper would get a clear shot at me and take me out. So, I just spent the day staring at my eye floaters, picking at a loose string on my pajama shirt sleeve, and jumping at any noise I heard outside the bathroom. Eventually, I became so jittery that I had no other choice but to eat some of that chocolate Akiko gave me to calm down. Saw a lot of crazy things, man… Like fat women in G-strings with orange hair…

The second day, the furthest I went was the kitchen. After not eating for two days, you can imagine how hungry I was. I just got all the junk food I could out of the cabinets, brought it all upstairs and ate it all while watching _South Park_. I decided that if I'm gonna die, I might as well die with a full stomach, not seeing it coming at all, and while watching something funny.

The third day I tried venturing outside. I just walked to the convini and back but that was it. Once again, I was afraid of being sniped so I tried to avoid being out in the open as much as possible. The fourth day I was much more adventurous. I figured if they wanted me dead, I'd be dead by now so there'd be no point in hiding anymore. Days five and six went on like normal, and by day seven I actually believed I had gotten away with it.

That was until I was grabbed and pulled into a car while walking back to the house. I did try fighting back, but all that got me was a smack in the back of the head so hard I later found out that I got a concussion from it.

I was taken to the newly-repaired Main Easter Building. I asked the men in suits who grabbed me several times what the fuck they thought they were doing and where they were taking me, but they remained silent the entire time. They dumped me in Director Hoshina's office, saying nothing and leaving when they were dismissed.

For about ten minutes, the Director and I had an ice-cold staring contest until I finally decided I had just about enough of this.

"What do you want?" I finally asked.

"Tsukiyomi Marceline," He started. "Can you please tell me what your contract with us says?"

"My contract?" I said. "You're gonna have to be more specific. There's a lot of stuff in ther-"

"Oh, don't act like you don't know." The Director said. "I know you know the specific part of the contract I'm talking about. Now tell me what it says."

I sighed. "It says that if I do anything to terminate my employment by the Easter Corporation, you have every right to end the lives of my family members."

"That's right." He said. "Given your actions over the past several days, it gives me cause to question your intentions."

"My intentions?" I questioned.

"Yes." He said. "Now tell me, do you intend to leave the Easter Corporation."

"No." Was my immediate answer.

"Then what are your intentions, Marceline?" He asked that as his cold, grey eyes drilled a hole straight through my body. I had to take a minute to think it through before I spoke.

"My intentions are to…" This was hard for me to say. "…f-faithfully s-serve the Easter Corporation until the day I meet my demise." I had to say that. That was the only correct answer.

Apparently the Director believed my statement just enough to let me go, but not enough to very scarily warn me. His exact words were: "Remember the consequences, Marceline."

I… I'm scared.

* * *

**I bet when you clicked on this you thought it was going to be an April Fool's Day prank. Nope, not this year. Watch your backs next year though! LOL!**

**The top authors note [was] the chorus to the Eminem song "Asshole" off of _The_ _Marshall Mathers LP 2_. I got the CD over the weekend and have been playing it in the car non-stop ever since.**

**Yeah... These last two chapters... Not my best... But, we're getting back to the regular plot next chapter, so...**

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 4/1/14**


	19. Bad CG

**Just heard about what happened in Fort Hood... So sad... My thoughts are with the families. 3**

**"Dynamite" by Taio Cruz**

* * *

"And now, it's magic time!" The child magician said to the viewers at home before turning to his guest assistant/volunteer, Hoshina Utau. "Your consciousness is separating from your body." He said as Utau stared at him in a seemingly dazed state. "You can hear only my voice. You can hear **only** my voice." Utau closed her eyes. "One, two, three." Zero, the magician, held a finger up in front of Utau's face with each number he said. He turned back to the cameras. "Utau-san is now completely under the effects of hypnotism. Now…"

Suddenly, the curtain behind them fell, revealing a huge lion. One of the guest judges/people on some sort of panel (You can tell I didn't pay attention to the beginning of the show.), Saeki Noboko, screamed in terror. Utau went around to the other side of the stage, and climbed up a flight of stairs that lead to a platform just above the lion's cage.

"Do not be alarmed!" Zero said to assure the audience before people had time to call the station and scream at them to stop the stunt immediately. "The instant Utau-san falls into this cage, I will transform her into a thousand butterflies with my magic!" Oh yes, a nine-year-old boy who can probably barely lift a medicine ball above his head was going to save my fifty-five kilogram-weighing sister with "magic". Now, you might be wondering what strength had to do with this? Easy. If that fucktard wasn't able to save her with "magic" then I would go down to the television studio myself and force him to catch her. Oh, and for those of you who think fifty-five kilograms isn't a lot, let me tell you, you are dead wrong. Utau tripped on the stairs once and landed on me and let me tell you it fucking hurt!

"It's magic time! It's Zero Time!" The magician exclaimed. Yes, kid. Enjoy your fun time with the television audience while I think up the most torturous way to kill you.

Utau started to slowly lean forward and…

**COMMERCIAL BREAK!**

Oh god damn it! I hate it when television stations/shows pull this shit. They build up the tension and right when something good (Or horrific, in my case.) is about to happen, they cut to commercial break. I was pissed and freaking out at the same time. I had to sit through commercials for Nationwide Insurance, _The Big Bang Theory_, Visit Florida Dot Com, Citizens Bank, Friendly's, _The King of Queens_, Neutrogena, and Chili's before I could find out whether or not my sister died a horrible death. I know, I always could have just called her but I know she keeps her phone off when she's doing something for work.

Utau was still standing on the ledge when they came back. Once again, she began to slowly lean over, only this time there was no commercial break to save her and she fell over the ledge. I let out a strangled scream, which was muffled by the throw pillow from the couch I was currently biting down on. However, my panic was seemingly for neigh because they filled in her falling into the cage with (cheap) CG Graphics. That didn't subdue my worry, though.

The end of the program was shot live (For whatever reason.) and you could clearly see that Utau was on the stage, alive and well, thanking the audience and Zero for having her on the show. It was only then that I let out a sigh of relief.

"What?" Ikuto, who was sitting next to me on the couch and watching, too. "You didn't think she was actually going to die, did you?"

"Well…" I trailed off.

* * *

"Cut!" The director shouted mid-fall. Utau landed in the net safely, just as planned. "We'll do the rest of the scene where Utau turns into butterflies in CG and then combine it."

Utau slowly stood up on the net and carefully walked to the edge where two crew members, a man and a woman, were waiting. She stepped on to the small metal, movable platform that was next to the net and then continued down the metal stairs.

"Thank you very much." The woman said as Utau passed her. Utau said nothing as she passed her.

"This is stupid" Utau said.

Across the stage, she saw Zero's manager arguing over the quality of the CG effects. Apparently they were dissatisfactory last time and he wanted them to be better this time. (Let me tell you, they weren't. You could clearly tell the butterflies were fake.) Meanwhile, Saeki Noboko was being dragged away by her managerial team because she was seeing things again. Okay, I take it back. That woman isn't just some wacko they found off the street, she's fucking delusional. God, if her managerial team had any sense they'd take her to get tested for schizophrenia. She was going off about Guardian Spirits or some other crap like that, saying that she could see them or whatever. Lady needs help.

"Thank you very much!" Zero's manager said as Noboko was led off stage. He then turned to Zero. "If you appear on her show, your popularity will skyrocket!" Apparently Zero's expression said that he didn't like that idea. "What's with that defiant look?"

"'Magic Time?'" Utau said from behind the distressed looking kid. He turned around to look at her. "Your tricks are all CG. You're nothing but a fake."

"What did you say?" Said Zero's now irate manager. "Where's your manager?"

"Has Utau done something wrong?" Yukari, who suddenly appeared to the manager's left, said. One thing that I like about Yukari, is that if some gets pissed at Utau for whatever reason and I'm not there and she overhears it, she'll pounce on them. Not that Utau isn't capable to stand up for herself 'cause she can, will, and has in the past, but it's just nice. Also, awesome bonus, whereas I would use an AK-47 to shut them up, she uses words, which is probably better for Utau's reputation.

"What kind of manners have you taught your client?" Um, Utau didn't learn her manners from Yukari. She learned them from the same woman who thinks it's appropriate to throw glassware at her son's head for no reason in the middle of dinner. (Don't worry. Ikuto's okay. He ducked.)

"What's the problem?" Yukari asked. "Utau's popularity will soon surpass Zero-kun's."

The two managers continued fighting, ignoring their clients.

"The entertainment world is the worst." Utau commented to Zero. He quickly turned to look at her. "I was looking forward to seeing you do magic firsthand, is all. I'm so disappointed." And with that, Utau walked away.

* * *

**Well, this chapter is shorter than my last few, but I got it out faster than normal, so can't complain. Especially since Utau is in it and Utau is tied with Ikuto for my favorite character from _Shugo Chara!_.**

**Oh, and to the people who watched episode sixteen of _Shugo Chara!_ recently, did anyone else notice how Nikaidou was able to lure a kid into his car in broad daylight without anyone noticing? I mean, he clearly wasn't the kid's parent or a relative of the kid so don't you think someone would have noticed something was up? I mean, granted, Nikaidou had no malintent (In the sense that he wasn't going to molest the kid then leave his severed head in the river for the cops to find.) but seriously? No one thought "That guy looks suspicious. I should call the cops."? Then again, it is Japan. They have a lower crime rate than we do so they probably let their guards down more... I don't know. **

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 4/2/14**


	20. The Joker's Speech

**Shit...**

**"Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner**

* * *

"Watanabe-san," Director Hoshina said into his office phone. "get Logan Huntzburger in here, now."

"Right away, sir." Watanabe said. Within a few minutes Logan was standing in the Director's office.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?" Logan asked when he came in.

"You're close with Tsukiyomi Marceline, right?" The Director asked. If by close, you mean "Have you raped her?" then yes, we are close.

"I wouldn't say that exactly." Logan said. "It's more like mutual understanding." Or one-sided obsession.

"Whatever." The Director said. "I don't care what the details of your relationship to her are, I just want to know if you think you can control her."

"Sir?" Logan didn't comprehend.

"If that girl isn't kept under control," The Director explained. "she will be the downfall of this entire company. She knows way too much about our operations and business practices. It'd be unethical to kill her seeing as she's only eleven years old. Not to mention I'd be probably send myself to prison for life if I don't get the death penalty for doing that. So, I need someone like you, to control her. Do you think you can do that?"

Logan smiled wickedly.

"Why yes, sir. I'm sure I can."

* * *

It was a dark, gloomy, rainy day in the Kanto Region. The remnants of Tropical Storm Nakri were just hitting the Japanese coast. (Psh, a tropical storm in the last week of January and the republicans say that there's no scientific evidence to support Global Warming.) Needless to say many people remained inside and did everything they could to go outside in the torrential rain.

Nikaidou Yuu sat at his desk in his laboratory, entering information he had collected from the last two eggs he turned into X-Eggs into his computer. They belonged to professional snowboarder Tori Mifuyu and the child magician Zero.

"They were both prodigies, and they both produced splendidly powerful X-Eggs." Nikaidou said to himself. "I was able to gather magnificent data thanks to them."

**Briing.**

**Briing.**

His cellphone rang and he picked it up. He looked at the caller ID and gave a bit of a sigh.

"Hello?" He said as he answered.

"It's me." The Director said on the other end of the line. "It would appear you have yet to find the Embryo. How long are you going to make me wait?"

"Please don't be impatient." Nikaidou said. "My current plan is progressing as we speak. The day you'll be able to present the Embryo to Gozen is not far off."

"Your current plan?" The Director questioned.

"It's something no one could even imagine." Nikaidou said. "Let's just say a miracle is about to occur, and leave it at that."

"What kind of plan is it?" The Director demanded to know.

"I'll explain the details at another time." Nikaidou said before hanging up.

Nikaidou then got up and looked out the window to the gloomy atmosphere outside.

"I'll make an Embryo using the data I collected." Nikaidou exposed to the room which was devoid of other people. "Yes, with my own hands." Dramatic flash of lighting. "But before I do, I should get one more sample."

He walked over to five playing cards he had flipped face-side-down on his desk.

"I'll use the egg that is by far the most powerful as the test subject." He said as he chose a card. He picked the card that was in the center and flipped it over. It was a card with a black spade and the letter J and the same old illustration you would expect to find on a Jack Card in a Bicycle deck.

"My next target will be the Jack."

* * *

Yukari sat in the Directors office, arranging papers and putting them into her bag. She had just finished speaking to the Director about her plans with Utau. Nikaidou hadn't shown up. She didn't care for the most part, but a teeny-tiny part of her did wonder why. It wasn't like him to miss out on the weekly brown nosing session.

Apparently the Director wanted to know, too because he called Nikaidou.

"It's me." She heard the Director say. "It would appear you have yet to find the Embryo. How long are you going to make me wait?"

There was a pause.

"Your current plan?"

Another pause.

"What kind of plan is it?"

Then after a few seconds, the Director took the phone away from his ear and flipped it closed.

"Nikaidou," The Director said to himself. "what are you thinking?"

* * *

"I wonder what his plan is." Yukari said as she stared at the down pour out the window of the Taxi she and Utau were currently in.

"Nikaidou-san's?" Utau asked as she studied a piece of paper that most likely had song lyrics or something written on it. "Does it matter? I'm not interested in anyone who puts on a fake smile." She turned and looked out her own window. "I'm not, and neither is Ikuto."

* * *

I saw Ikuto standing in a back alley way. I was inside a Dunkin Donuts across the street with Sarah. I don't think he knew I was ther. I do think, though, he was trying to wade out the down pour. Either that or he was trying to commit suicide via pneumonia. I really wanna think it was the first thing, but given how depressed he looked…

I'm probably wrong, though.

…At least, I hope I'm wrong.

* * *

**I really really hate this website's rules...**

* * *

**Originally Posted to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 4/7/14**


	21. The First Heir

**Happy Easter/Pot Day/Hitler's Birthday/Anniversary of the Columbine Shootings!**

**"Stereo Love" by Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina**

* * *

THUD!

"Ah, fuck!" I nearly screeched out. Although I had been awake no longer than three seconds, I was able to stop myself from waking up the rest of the house. It was about two in the morning. I had just woken from a nightmare. I'm not going to say what it was about, seeing as I have trouble breathing when I as much as even accidentally recall this nightmare. Just know that it was enough to send me into instant panic attack mode as soon as I recoiled from the foot-and-a-half to two-foot fall from my bed.

I pulled everything that was in my arms close to me as I sobbed. I had been cradling my teddy bear, Rupert, and my Stan and Kyle dolls. (I think Kenny was on the floor with my Webkins Panda and Cartman was somewhere on my bed with the rest of my stuffed animals.) I had a death grip on the comforter from my bed, which I guess I had pulled down with me. After a few minutes I realized I was cold and wrapped it around myself.

I cried for twenty minutes before I was able to calm myself down. (New record!) I still had slight tunnel vision and I still felt like someone was going to jump out from behind me with a machete, but at least I wasn't crying. After that, I tried going back to sleep, however, it evaded me. I could understand why, though. I mean, who could fall asleep after a dream like that? I think someone who wasn't used to having dreams as disturbing as that one would commit suicide immediately after waking up from that hell.

I know normal methods of falling asleep, such as drinking milk or taking a warm bath wouldn't help. I've tried those all before with no avail. I could always take some Ambien, or Lunesta, or Oxycodone, or Valium, or Sleep Syrup or… Wow, I know my mom's a pill junkie but I never realized how many different sleep medications she had at her disposal. Someone… Someone should really do something about that.

Anyways, I know I could always take one of those but I'm fairly certain despite the large number of medications that are probably in her system, she'd still somehow hear me and wake up. So, I'm left with very few options. To be honest, I want nothing more than to crawl into my parent's bed and curl up with them like I used to when I was I child. I think everyone did that as a kid when they were scared. Well, at least I did until I was about three and walked in on them… …Uh, participating in adult activities. Let's go with that. (Your parents are virgin saints, your parents are virgin saints, your parents are virgin saints…) After that extremely scarring incident, I started crawling into bed with Ikuto whenever I had nightmares. Although at age eight I doubt he could fight of the little fire demons that plagued my dreams and that I was convinced were real as well as my dad probably could, but I reasoned the most I would have to do should those things ever attack me in my sleep would be to outrun Ikuto.

Ikuto! I thought for a second. Oh shit, no. He would never let me do that again. Hell, I don't think I'm even allowed in his room. Not after that one time.

Let me elaborate. About a year and a half ago, Utau had seen this French film called Les Cousins Dengereux and got some ideas from it… Long story short, Ikuto said that no one was allowed in his room without his express written consent ever, ever, EVER, again. So, that's out.

For the rest of the night, I just stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come.

You know, I've heard suicide is painless…

* * *

Logan walked back into his office on Saturday morning. He saw that he had a new message on his answering machine. He sat down at his desk and hit the button that played all messages.

Beeep.

"You have one new message, and five saved messages." The Machine said in a monotone, robotic voice. "First new message."

"Hello, Mr. Huntzburger." A man said in the recording. "This is Minami Hinata calling about the inquisition you made to my legal office. Um, I have to say what you're asking for isn't exactly legal in Japan… In fact, it's not legal anywhere. It, uh, it actually borders on slavery… The best I can offer you is a non-disclosure agreement that would keep the girl from talking about… What you're planning to do… But other than that, legally, you don't have any leeway. I'm sorry sir. Have a nice day."

"To delete this message, press one…" The machine began to drone on.

Logan frowned.

* * *

"It's great weather for going to the aquarium!" Ran cheered.

"The aquarium! The aquarium! Our first time at the aquarium!" All the of Amu's Guardian Characters chanted in sing-song voices. Amu and the other Guardians had been invited by Tadase to go see the new Aquarium that had just been built. I don't see what the big deal was, though. It was exactly the same as the old was aquarium, only this one wasn't burned to ashes. I know what you're thinking, you're wondering how an aquarium caught fire. Well, if you can tell me how a Sea Parks could catch fire, I'll tell you how an aquarium can catch fire.

Amu smiled while listening to her Guardian Characters' excitement.

There's something nice about visiting the aquarium with friends. She thought. I'm excited.

Honey, let me tell you the only thing exciting about the aquarium is that you can point at the seals and scream "Hey kids! Look at the phoques!" then explain to them that "phoque" means "seal" in French and then watch all the little kids trying out this new word with their parents. At least, that's the only reason I find going to the aquarium exciting.

"Hinamori-san!" A slightly (Okay, more than slightly.) feminine voice called out from down the street. Tadase jogged over to the bus stop Amu was standing at.

"Good morning." Tadase said. "Sorry for making you wait."

"It's okay," Amu said. "no one else is here yet."

"Actually," Tadase said. "Just before I left the house I got calls from everyone…"

* * *

Tadase was just pulling on his tan jacket when the phone rang. He was the closest to it, so he just announced that he would get it.

"Hello," Tadase said in his normal, formal manner when he picked up the phone. "Hotori residence, Tadase Speaking."

"Hotori-kun?" Nadeshiko's voice said on the other end of the line. "I'm glad I caught you before you left the house. I'm sorry, I can't get out of dance practice after all. You'll tell Amu-chan and the others, right?"

"Oh, that's too bad." Tadase said. "I'll be sure to tell everyone."

"Thanks, bye." Nadeshiko said. She was being quick on the phone. Tadase just assumed that she had to get back to dance practice.

As soon as Tadase put the phone back on the receiver, he got another call.

"Hello," Tadase said again. "Hotori residence, Tadase speaking."

"Sorry, Tadase!" An overly hyper girl blurted out on the phone all of a sudden. "I have to go out with my family all of a sudden."

"Yuiki-san?" Tadase questioned for a second, but then decided that it probably her seeing as he hardly knew of anyone else who could blurt out so many words in less than fifteen seconds. "It's okay." He said. "Fujisaki-san called already and said she couldn't make it either. I'll tell everyone what happened."

"Na-chin already called?" Yaya questioned. "Yes! The plan is working!"

"Plan?" Tadase asked. "What plan?"

"Uh…" Busted! "Oh! I think my mom's calling me! Gotta go! Bye!" And just like that she hung up.

Any confusion Tadase had from that conversation was quickly brushed aside by the phone ringing again.

"Hello, Hotori residence, Tadase speaking."

"Hey, Tadase." Kukai said on the other end of the line.

"Soma-kun?" Tadase said. "What's up?" He asked that, but he could easily predict what he was going to hear next.

"Sorry." Kukai said. "A soccer match suddenly came up. I won't be able to go to the aquarium with you guys." How does a soccer match suddenly come up? Don't they plan those things months in advance? Tadase, however was oblivious to this.

"Oh, don't worry." Tadase said. "Yuiki-san and Fujisaki-san already called. They can't make it either."

"Oh, really?" Kukai said in a surprised tone that could easily be described as feigned to anyone but Tadase. "That sucks."

"Yeah." Tadase said. "So, I guess it's just me and Hinamori-san." He doesn't realize that's what they wanted, doesn't he?

After he hung up with Kukai, Tadase hung back for a minute to make sure he didn't get any calls from Amu. Obviously he didn't so he then grabbed his black hat and made his way to the bus stop that they were all supposed to meet at.

* * *

"So the others can't come." Tadase said when he finished explaining.

"What?" Amu and her Guardian Characters exclaimed.

"I was really looking forward to it, too." Amu said sadly.

In her mind, the aquarium was on a cloud, too far out of her reach. That didn't stop her imaginary self and the imaginary forms of her Guardian Characters from reaching out for it.

"Good-bye, aquarium." Amu's Guardian Characters said sadly in unison.

"Good-bye, dolphins-desu." Su said, especially sad.

"It can't be helped," Tadase said. "so let's just go together."

"Huh?" Amu said. She was expecting him to say that they could all just go another time.

"Ah, the bus is here." Tadase said as the bus pulled up.

* * *

Amu sat on the extremely nice city bus (I say extremely nice because all of the city busses I've been on have hard plastic seats and winos peeing in the corner and this bus had none of that.), staring straight ahead at the people in front of her. As she sat there, she came to a certain realization and her expression changed from neutral to one of shock, embarrassment, and panic.

I'm alone with Tadase-kun?! Wow, she finally figured that out? Someone call the Nobel Prize people! I think we have a genius on our hands!

Her Guardian Character, the pink cheerleader, Ran, flew over to her upon seeing her impending freak out.

"Calm down, Amu-chan." Ran said. But, it didn't help.

* * *

"Hey, Ikuto." Utau said, trying to wake him up from his nap. "Wake up, Ikuto."

Normally getting him to mumble something in his sleep is quite a feat, never mind waking him up. But, he was still in that state of slight alertness between falling asleep and waking up, so he was able to acknowledge her.

"No." He said. "I'm super sleepy."

"You've been acting funny lately." Utau said, worriedly. "Something's strange. Is it because of her? Hinamori Amu."

The name made Ikuto open his eyes a bit. Even though it was over a month ago, he could still clearly hear those words in his ears.

"I won't lose to you!"

He shut his eyes again. Not out of exhaustion, but in an attempt to get that memory out of his head.

"Are you paying attention to her because she has the lock that goes with your key?" Utau asked, clearly wanting an answer. "Or is it…"

Ikuto gave no reply. Utau just stared at him for a few seconds sadly. She then stood up, but before she could walk away, Ikuto's Guardian Character, Yoru, floated up to her.

"Hey, by key do you mean that?" He said pointing over to the key that was chained to the handle of his violin case. "What's the lock?" He continued. "What happens when you put the lock and key together-nya?"

"I have no idea." Utau said as she turned to walk away.

As she made her way over the roof door, Yoru turned his attention back to the key.

"A lock and key…" He said to himself while chuckling. "Could be fun-nya."

* * *

In the alley way between the Convini and the Dry Cleaners that was quite possibly a front for human trafficking, all of the stray cats in the Toride area had convened to listen to their "king" make an important announcement.

"Gentlemen," Yoru said, while holding up a poorly drawn picture of Amu and her Guardian Characters. "this girl is your target-nya! Go find her-nya!"

The cats all cheerfully meowed.

* * *

The Tonami Memorial Aquarium (Apparently it was named after some kid who died in the fire. Once again, I don't know how an aquarium could catch fire.) was… Well, an aquarium. I mean, it didn't have the "wow factor" that the New England Aquarium (The only other aquarium I've ever been to.) has. It just has blue walls, a tan floor, a bunch of in-wall tanks, and rooms for shows with somewhat bigger animals like phoques and dolphins. They didn't have any big animals, though, like whales or sharks. Well, they did have sand sharks, but not any shark sharks.

Despite looking very boxy on the outside, the aquarium was very elliptically shaped on the inside. The center ellipse was the stadium for the aquatic animals' shows and the external ellipse housed the in-wall tanks. Everything outside the external ellipse was just maintenance stuff. I never got this set up because of how compact the aquarium is, but I've never seen it over crowded (To be fair, I've never seen it under crowded either.) or heard of any serious problems occurring because of this set up, so I guess it works for them.

That Sunday, they were fairly busy. Once again, it wasn't overly crowded but you could tell the owners made a decent amount of money that day. It was mostly filled with parents with young children and young couples out on a "date". (I say "date" because if a guy ever took me to the aquarium and tried to call that a date, I'd laugh in his face. A date to me is going somewhere where they don't card and getting so drunk you'd fuck anything, even David Schwimmer. Eh, I shouldn't be hard on them. They're probably all fifteen or sixteen year olds that have no money.) They all puttered around the ellipse, staring at the wide variety of fish and wildlife that were living out the duration of their miserable little lives having to spend day in and day out being tortured in a tank by giant creatures that liked to tap on the glass of the tank.

While Tadase was looking at a brochure, probably trying to figure out where certain attractions were even though the building was probably the easiest to navigate in the world, Amu was freaking out.

"I-I can't believe I'm alone with Tadase-kun!" She said to herself.

"We're here as well." Kiseki pointed out in his usual arrogant tone.

"She's totally forgotten about us." Miki observed aloud.

"Amu-chan." Ran said, in slight disbelief.

"Where are the dolphins-desu?" Su asked cheerfully.

Amu had been staring into space as she internally freaked out, but then one of the many young couples caught her attention.

"Do you want to see what's over there?" The boy asked as the girl turned her attention from the tank.

"Sure, let's go look." She said as she grabbed his arm and they walked off to some other part of the aquarium.

My only comment on that is, god, I hope that boy wasn't planning on getting laid like that.

Woah, a date. B-but wait… Wouldn't this also be a date? No, Amu. A date is when the prospect of getting laid is on the table. What you just saw wasn't a date and what you and Tadase are on isn't a date. Unless, you want to psychologically scar yourself by losing your virginity at ten years old to a possible homosexual (I've known the kid since I was ten months old. Trust me, it's very much possible he's a homosexual.), I wouldn't see this as a date.

However, my words are being written long after the fact, so they have no effect on Amu. In her mind, there were hearts, glitter and streamers everywhere, there was a banner that said "Congratulations! First Date!" and Ran, Miki, and Su were playing trumpets.

God, is it okay for such a wonderful development to happen to me? YOU'RE TEN!

Amu turned and looked at Tadase and immediately began fangirling over him. (Gross.)

His hair's so silky. His eyes are so pretty. He's majorly cute again today. Alright, let me break it to you right now, honey. Tadase isn't attractive. (No offence, Tadase.) He's just… Normal. Also, you're only focusing on his physical attributes. Not that that's a bad thing, but if you really want this to work out… I'm reading too much into the situation, aren't I?

"Hinamori-san." Tadase suddenly said as he turned to her.

"Yes?" Amu said sweetly as she was still in heart-filled, sparkly fangirl land. However, she quickly realized that what just happened wasn't a fantasy, snapped out of it, and quickly covered her mistake. "I mean, what?"

"Shall we go?" Tadase asked as he started walking in the direction of one of the attractions.

"Yeah!" Amu said brightly as she caught up to him.

"The mood is good!" Ran commented.

* * *

After going through a montage of cute "date-ish" activities, Amu and Tadase were walking through the hallway of the outer ellipse, talking.

"Oh man," Amu said cheerily as she spread out her arms. "this is so much fun!"

"Everything is adorable!" Amu's Guardian Characters cheered.

"Now let's see the dolphins-desu!" Su excitedly exclaimed. What's with this girl and dolphins?

"Right, what should we see next?" Amu turned to Tadase and asked. And then for some reason I cannot comprehend, she started freaking out internally again.

Oh-no, I'm getting carried away! She thought. That's not like me. Tadase-kun will think I'm childish! What the hell does his opinion matter? Just enjoy yourself! God, I hate girls like this, (No offence, Amu.) the kind of girls who constantly worry about a guy's opinion of them. Just do what you feel is right and if they can't handle it, fuck them. What I just wrote is probably hypocritical, but I don't care.

But wait, the girl he likes… The memory suddenly came back to her…

"It was the first time I'd ever seen a girl so bright, cheerful, and strong! A girl like Amulet Heart!" Wait, it was Tadase that said that? Shit, I thought it was two lesbians talking.

In that case, maybe I should just transform into Amulet Heart. Amu thought about it for a moment, saw no horrible flaws in that plan, and then proceeded to go through with it.

"My own heart! Unlock!" Amu shouted. Seconds later she was in a pink cheerleader's outfit and time had turned back so she was back at the bus stop with Tadase waiting there for her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Amu said ten times more cheerily than she was a few minutes before when she was talking with Tadase in the aquarium. Tadase's eyes immediately turned into hearts like an Anime Character's and took her hand and then proceeded to walk down the street to the aquarium, happily hand in hand. That was, until a crowd had gathered.

"There's a really tacky cheerleader here." One person said.

"Why is she at an aquarium?" Another asked.

Okay, there's no way I could do that. She thought as she realized the error in her logic. Okay, she didn't really do that, but she did honestly give some serious thought to it.

"Hey!" The Guardian Characters said, trying to bring Amu back to reality.

"Hinamori-san," Tadase said. "isn't it about time you returned to this world?"

"I'm sorry." Amu said, snapping out of her fantasy mode. "I was acting weird, wasn't I? Like, not my usua-"

"I'm glad you're having fun." Tadase cut her off. "I was worried. It's the first time I've ever been alone with a girl like this. I didn't want things to be dull or boring."

"Tadase-kun." Amu said.

"And since it was you, Hinamori-san…"

"What?"

"Because you're…"

Because I'm Amulet Heart? She mentally prepared herself to relive that heartbreak.

"Hinamori-san, I…" Tadase was suddenly stopped by a smaller hand grabbing his. He turned to look at the smaller creature that had just joined them. It was a little girl in a soft pink coat. Her hair was tied up into pigtails and her brown eyes were wide. She happily smiled up at him. Amu and Tadase just store at her, confused.

"W-who are you?" Amu asked the little girl.

* * *

After a few hours of sleeping on the roof, Ikuto felt… Well, definitely not well-rested as he was sleeping on concrete, but he definitely wasn't tired anymore. He stood up and stretched. Then, he looked over at his violin case and quickly noticed something was missing. He sighed.

* * *

Yoru floated in front of the aquarium with the Dumpty Key around his neck.

"So Hinamori Amu is here-nya?" He asked the cats that were gathered together on the ground below him. The cats all meowed affirmatively. "Good work-nya. As a reward, here's some catnip-nya!" He said as he pulled out a bag of catnip. The cats all meowed excitedly. Catnip is a rare commodity for stray cats.

"I can't wait to see what's going to happen-nya!" Yoru said to himself as he flew towards the aquarium.

* * *

The little girl in the pink coat came to a stop as she reached the end of the hallway. She turned around and called out to someone.

"Onii-chan, hurry, hurry!" She said.

"She's really taken a liking to you." Amu commented to Tadase as they slowly followed behind.

"This is troublesome." Tadase said. "I wonder if she's lost." No, parents just leave their small children alone at the aquarium all the time. That's not sarcasm, I'm serious. The few times I've been to the aquarium I've seen parents tell their two year old not to leave the building with anyone and if the situation didn't feel right to go to a member of the aquarium's staff, before leaving them alone. What the fuck? I mean, I get why they do that at Toys R Us but the aquarium?

As they caught up with the girl, they both noticed that she was staring up at Tadase in a cute, but somewhat unsettling manner.

"What's wrong?" Amu asked the girl.

"Are you two going out?" The girl asked. "Is she your girlfriend?"

That question caused the two of them to become extremely flustered.

"Of course not, we're just friends!" Tadase outright denied.

"That's right, just friends!" Amu agreed, then she realized what he just said. "Just friends?"

"I'm so glad, because I love you!" The little girl exclaimed as she hugged Tadase and made a face at Amu.

Why you little brat… Amu thought.

"What are you getting worked up about?" Miki asked.

"It's pathetic." Kiseki commented.

"We haven't gone to see the dolphins-desu." Su said. Seriously, what's with this girl and dolphins?

* * *

Meanwhile, Yoru had become distracted from his mission.

"That looks tasty-nya." He said as he watched thousands of fish swim by him through the tank glass.

* * *

"Onii-chan, you're really cool!" The little girl gushed.

"Thanks." Tadase said, obviously not taking her comments seriously.

Give me a break! Amu thought. Seriously, Amu, what are you getting worked up about? She's five! That's too young to be in a relationship. Hell, if you ask me, ten is too young to date! Yeah, that's probably hypocritical coming from me because I started dating when I was eight, but that's the only relationship I've been in and the guy I was dating at the time was twenty-six so technically it wasn't a relationship, it was rape. But, that's beside the point.

"You know what?" The little girl asked Tadase. "This morning, on TV, I saw Saeki Noboko's Lucky Colors Fortune Telling. She said my destined partner would be wearing black shoes and a beige coat." Exactly what Tadase was wearing. "So you're my destined partner!"

"Um, what should we do?" Tadase turned to Amu and asked. Amu sighed.

"Her parents must be looking for her." Amu said. "We should take her to the Lost Children Center." Amu then looked at the little girl and saw that she was giving her a very pissed off look. "W-what?"

All of a sudden the little girl and Amu were dramatically standing on a cliff, with volatile sea waters below. Amu, of course, was confused.

"You're a bad lady who wants to break us up!" The little girl accused. "But our love can beat anything!"

"Huh?" Amu said as the little girl dramatically turned to walk off. Once she walked off she went back to hugging Tadase and the background changed back into the aquarium. Ah, the wonders of Amu's Inner Mind Theater.

"Amu-chan, Amu-chan!" Ran called out as she, along with Miki and Su, floated over to a disheartened looking Amu.

"What is it?" Amu asked sadly. "Is it already time for the dolphin show?"

"No, it's not that!" Ran exclaimed.

"Look!" All three Guardian Characters shouted as Miki and Su lifted Amu's head up while Ran pointed in the direction of the thing that had gotten them all worked up.

Floating above the heads of all the people in the crowd, was an X-Egg.

"Muri, Muri…"

"A-an X-Egg!" Amu exclaimed.

"Why is it here?" Tadase wondered aloud in a serious tone.

"What should we do, Tadase-kun?" Amu asked, also in a serious tone.

"What is it?" The little girl asked. "What's wrong?" Unlike Tadase and Amu, she couldn't see the X-Egg. As far as she knew, they were just staring at some mystery object near the ceiling.

As soon as it noticed that Amu and Tadase had their attention fixed on it, the X-Egg flew off. Tadase and Amu let out clearly audible gasps.

"We have to catch it!" Tadase exclaimed as he took a step forward, but was stopped by something grabbing at his coat.

"Onii-chan, don't go!" The little girl commanded. Oh, I guess Tadase forgot about her.

"Chisa-chan." Tadase said. Oh, look Amu! He remembered that little girl's name! You gonna get all jealous over that, too?

"Leave this to me." Amu said to Tadase. (Apparently not.) "You have to take care of her." And with that, she ran off in pursuit of the X-Egg.

"Hinamori-san." Tadase said as he watched her run off.

* * *

Yoru was trailing behind an aquarium employee who was apparently bringing a bucket of fish somewhere out back. The succulent smell of dead mackerel was so alluring to him, he couldn't help but to follow the guy and wait for him to drop one.

"That looks so tasty-nya!" Yoru could already imagine the salty and mercury-like (I can't eat fish, so I don't know what it tastes like.) taste of those little suckers and how satisfying it would be to have them slowly be disintegrated into nothing by the volatile acids in his stomach.

He was quickly distracted, though, by a black egg with a white X on it and the pink-haired ten-year-old girl chasing after it.

"Nya!" Yoru exclaimed. "Hinamori Amu, I've found you-nya!"

* * *

"Amu-chan, Chara Nari-desu!" Su instructed Amu.

"But…" Amu said, glancing around her surroundings. "I can't do it here with so many people around!" There were a total of seven people hanging out behind the building. Seven. That is not a lot of people, Amu. Plus, most of them were either talking to someone or playing some stupid game on their iPhone, so I doubt they would have noticed.

"Then Character Change!" Ran said. Alright, if she's worried about getting noticed by a total of seven people who aren't even paying attention to what's going on around them enough to notice that they're being pickpocketed by an eleven-year-old elementary school expellee (What? People at aquariums are easy targets.), how do you think a Character Change would be better?

"Right, that I can do!"

…

With that, the red X-shaped clip in Amu's hair turned into a heart-shaped one and tiny wings appeared on her wrists and the back of her ankles.

"Hop! Step! Jump!" Ran exclaimed as Amu jumped into the air in an attempt to catch up with the X-Egg. When the egg saw Amu floating down from the peak of her jump, quickly catching up to it, it began to panic and flew away faster. Once she reached the bottom of her jump, Amu grabbed a net that was just leaning up against the side of the building and continued to go after it.

"We're just going to borrow it for a while-desu!" Su assured no one.

Amu tried several times to swing her net and catch the X-egg, but each attempt was a comedic failure. After that, the egg got cocky and seemingly gloated at the fact that Amu had yet to catch it.

"It's as if…" Ran started.

"I get the feeling its making fun of us." Miki finished. Well, duh.

"That makes me mad." Amu said as she began to lunge at it again.

"Hinamori Amu-" Yoru began to say as he floated in of Amu, but she cut him off.

"Hey, watch out!" She said as her forehead slammed into the small creature.

"Ouch…" They both simultaneously groaned. Oh, come on! It shouldn't have hurt that bad!

"Why are you here?" Amu suddenly burst out and said once the slight pain from the bump vanished. "Does that mean Ikuto's here, too?"

"Ikuto isn't with me." Yoru said. "I'm a stray cat character who loves his freedom-nya." He tried to make that last part come off as cool and as bad ass as possible.

"Quit trying to act cool." Ran said.

"He kind of is, though." Miki commented in sort of a shy fangirl-like manner. This comment apparently shocked Ran.

"Have you been overcome by my charm?" Yoru asked. Just then the X-Egg decided to bounce on his head. This caused Yoru to fall forward and do a front flip before Amu caught him in hear hands.

"Are you okay?" Amu asked.

"I-I'm fine-nya." Yoru said, although he didn't sound fine. He sounded like Ikuto did that time he fell off the roof and that time he got the wind knocked out of him and couldn't breathe correctly for several minutes.

As Amu looked at Yoru, she immediately noticed the key around his neck.

"That's…" Amu muttered to herself. Yoru heard this and was immediately well enough to float up on his own.

"This is the key that can open your lock-nya." Yoru explained as he held the key at arm's length.

"The key that can open the Humpty Lock?" Amu asked in astonishment. "It's pretty!" She commented. Amu then reached into the little red bag she had attached to her belt and pulled out the Humpty Lock.

"The design looks pretty similar." Miki said, mentally noting that both the lock and key had the same four-leaf-clover shaped gems.

"The go together-desu." Su said. Well, duh.

"I'll open the lock-nya." Yoru said.

"Okay." Amu said.

Yoru slowly floated over to Amu's hand, which contained the lock. It was at the same time that the X-Egg realized that Amu had stopped chasing it and became immediately enraged and charged towards them. Su immediately noticed this and screamed. Everyone quickly directed their attention to the direction in which Su was looking. It was quick enough to allow them all to dodge the hit. The X-Egg floated around them at a fast speed multiple times, and they all scrambled to dodge it.

"What is it now?" Amu asked once the egg ceased its attack.

"Maybe it's mad because you were ignoring it." Miki suggested. Just as she said that, Yoru noticed something.

"The key is gone!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked up and saw that the key was now around the egg, and the egg once again began to cockily gloat. Wait, how is that possible? An egg is an ellipse. How could the chain of the key possibly… Oh yeah, I forgot. Physics don't exist.

"Nya!" Yoru exclaimed. "Ikuto's going to be so mad."

"Ikuto?" Amu questioned. "That was Ikuto's?" Why else would Yoru have it?

Why would Ikuto have the key that opened my lock? Amu thought. Maybe because it belongs to him?

"Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed, quickly drawing Amu's attention back to her surroundings in just enough time to see the extremely pissed off X-Egg rushing at her.

"Hold on! Time Out!" Amu shouted, realizing she wouldn't have enough time to Character Change again and jump away.

Amu suddenly felt herself being picked up, held in the bridal position and then rising up off the ground fast enough to dodge the hit from the X-Egg. Amu looked at the face of her rescuer and saw a boy with navy-blue hair and midnight blue eyes.

Ikuto?

The X-Egg, pissed off by the fact that it missed Amu, quickly floated off to another part of the aquarium.

Ikuto gently set Amu on solid ground. She just stood there. She was unsure of what to say to him.

"Ikuto!" Yoru exclaimed as he floated over to his bearer.

"Jeez," Ikuto said, sounding extremely annoyed as he turned to Yoru. "taking off with someone else's stuff… Here's your punishment." As he said that last part, he flicked Yoru on the nose. Yoru gave a tiny yelp of pain as he gripped his nose. "I'll get the key back."

A pair of cat ears appeared on Ikuto as well as a tail before he jumped off in pursuit of the X-Egg.

Did Ikuto save me? Are you still alive? Then yes.

"Amu-chan, let's go, too!" Ran said.

"Yeah!" Amu exclaimed. "My Own Heart, Unlock!"

* * *

Ikuto jumped from tree top to tree top and building to building as he followed the X-Egg. For a second, he had it cornered in an alleyway between the aquarium and some public park area, but the egg evaded him by floating up on to the roof. He jumped up after it. As he began to reach the top of the building, he noticed someone jumping next to him. A girl in a pink cheerleader outfit. He looked over at her.

"Amu." He said.

She looked over at him and smiled in response.

They both reached the height of their jumps and landed on the roof safely.

"Good." Amu said as they landed. "I won't stand out in my Chara Nari here!"

"Okay!" Miki and Su agreed.

Once again, I would like to make a point that that same day I stole five-thousand-dollars' worth of credit card information off of people at that same aquarium. Trust me, they wouldn't have noticed. The only way they would have noticed would be if she actually went inside the aquarium and continued on with her date with Tadase like it was normal.

"You're going to get the key back, right?" Amu asked Ikuto. "I'll help you."

"Why?" Ikuto asked with that signature smirk on his face. "I thought you hated me."

"What?" Amu said, slightly confused. "Hate you? Oh…" Then she remembered what she had said.

"I hate you!" She had shouted. "I hate you!"

"Back then, I…" She became flustered as she tried to cover up her mistake. "Ah! You're right. This is just in return for saving me earlier; otherwise I'd have no reason to want to help you." Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.

Ikuto faked a look of disappointment, before smirking again.

"I really do hate you!" Amu exclaimed.

"Whatever." Ikuto said, still slightly smirking. "We better move fast before it takes off."

The X-Egg had been trying to take off, but stopped in its tracks once it heard Ikuto say that.

"Oh yeah," Amu said. "I forgot."

The X-Egg seemed depressed for a second upon hearing that.

* * *

Thousands of fish swam overhead as Tadase and Chisa walked through the giant glass tunnel tank that from the basement, which had large tanks for phoques and dolphins, to the stairs that led to the ground level floor where the Lost Child Center was sure to be.

"Chisa-chan, is your mother or father here?" Tadase asked.

Chisa suddenly let go of Tadase's hand and stepped in front of him.

"Don't mention my parents!" Chisa shouted. "I don't need my mother or father anymore."

"What?" Tadase said, astonished that a five-year-old whose name wasn't Marceline could say such a thing.

"As long as you're with me, everything is fine." Chisa said in a somewhat romantic-like tone. "Let's go live by ourselves in a far-off city." Wow, is this little girl lucky her "destined mate" wasn't several years older with a preference for small children.

* * *

Amu had tried several times to catch the egg to no avail. She was now floating in the air above the aquarium extremely pissed off with the egg.

"Jeez, it never stops moving!" She exclaimed.

"Amu-chan!" Miki exclaimed.

"Stay calm-desu." Su said.

All of a sudden, a giant, blue cat's paw batted at the egg in a manner that a real cat would. The egg easily dodged it. Amu looked over at Ikuto and saw him standing on a roof of the main aquarium building, using his Phantom Claw ability.

"Ikuto will distract it so you can hit it." Yoru explained.

"Got it!" Amu said.

Ikuto then batted at the egg as fast as he could and each time the egg dodged. It was so distracted by Ikuto that it didn't notice Amu using her Heart Rod's Spiral Heart attack. The rod span around the egg, trapping it in a barrier of sparkles.

"Got it." Amu said to herself, before calling upon her final attack. "Negative Heart! Lock On! Open Heart!" With that, the egg was hit with a thousand sparkling hearts until it turned back to normal.

Amu jumped down onto the roof of the aquarium and changed back to normal, just in time to see the egg drop the key.

"I got it! I got it!" Amu exclaimed as she ran after the key.

Ikuto realized what was going to happen before Amu or any of her Guardian Characters did. As she reached out and caught the key, she leaned over the ledge and began to fall. Ikuto quickly ran over and grabbed her by the arm, only to be pulled down with her.

"Amu-chan!" Amu's Guardian Characters exclaimed.

"Ikuto!" Yoru shouted.

Ikuto quickly pulled Amu into his arms so that way he was carrying her bridal style again and flipped so that way he landed on his feet. He let out a sigh of relief as he and Amu landed on the ground safely. Amu jumped out of his arms.

"D-don't scare me like that!" Amu said in her usual cool and spicy manner.

Ikuto smirked as he undid the Character Change.

"Thanks." He said. Amu turned to look at him and saw that he was holding up the key.

"Wait!" She exclaimed. "Is what Yoru said true? Can that key open my lock? What is this lock? And why do you have the key that opens it?"

"I don't know." He wasn't being as evasive as he seemed. He really didn't know.

"The least you could do is tell me." Amu said. "You're always like this; you never tell me the important stuff. Like, why didn't you tell me you weren't the one turning everyone's eggs into X-Eggs?"

"Who cares about that?" He said in an uncaring manner.

"I do!" Amu shouted as she ran at him with her hand in the air as if she was about to strike him or something. Ikuto caught it and held it in place above her head.

"Aren't you going to thank me for jumping down and saving you?" Ikuto asked with a smirk reappearing on his face.

"W-who'd thank…" Amu found herself unable to finish that sentence as she gazed into his eyes.

Oh-no, what is this strange feeling? She thought.

"The Dumpty Key." Ikuto said, snapping Amu out of her thoughts. "It's the key to your Humpty Lock."

"The key to…" Amu said. "My lock and your key go together?" Shit, didn't you figure that out, like, twenty minutes ago?

"Hinamori-san!" A feminine voice shouted. Christ, does he still have that sand in his vagina?

"Tadase-kun!" Amu said as she twisted her head around to look at Tadase. Ikuto let go of Amu's hand and took a step back. Tadase immediately ran to Amu's defense.

"Are you okay?" Tadase asked Amu.

"I'm fine." Amu said.

Tadase turned his attention back to Ikuto.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" He said.

"You're looking well, kiddy king." Ikuto said, smirk still glued to his face.

"You're after the lock again!" Tadase (falsely) accused. Ikuto just turned around and started to walk off. "We'll never give it to you! I'll protect the Humpty Lock!"

"You're so adorable." Ikuto said as he came to a stop.

"Shut up!" Tadase shouted.

"But you, the lock might not be all I'm after." Ikuto said.

"Huh?" Amu said as she looked at Ikuto with a curious look.

What else could he be after?

Tadase, however, kept the same look of determination on his face.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto, you're…" He trailed off as Ikuto Character Changed and jumped up onto a street lamp.

"See you later, Amu." He turned to her and said before jumping off.

"Wait!" Tadase called after him, but it was too late. He was already gone.

After standing there silently for a moment, a thought struck Amu.

"I just remembered!" Amu said. "What about the little girl? What happened to Chisa-chan?"

"Oh," Tadase said. He was glad that the subject changed but still felt weird about what had happened with that little girl. "I ended up finding her parents. Though, it was a bit difficult." By difficult, he meant she threw the temper tantrum to end all temper tantrums. "She finally calmed down after I promised to go on a date with her."

That little imp.

"Hey, Amu-chan." Ran said. "We've finished taking care of the X-Egg, so…"

"Let's go see the rest of the aquarium!" Miki said, finishing Ran's sentence.

"We must hurry, before the dolphin show starts-desu!" Seriously, what's with that girl and dolphins?

Right, I can't lose to that kid. I have to enjoy my first date as much as I can!

"Hurry! Hurry!" Ran, Miki, and Su called as they floated down the path towards the aquarium. Amu ran to catch up with them.

"Let's go, Tadase-kun!" Amu said, turning to Tadase once she reached her Guardian Characters, then quickly taking off once she finished her sentence.

Tadase just stood there for a second with a slight blush on his face.

"Tadase, what is the matter?" Kiseki asked.

"Nothing." Tadase said. Tadase began to walk in the direction Amu went when a small hand grabbed his. He turned around and saw Chisa staring up at him. "Ch-Chisa-chan?"

"What?" Amu said in disbelief. She had walked back to see what was taking him so long.

"I just…" Chisa began saying in a melodramatic manner. "I just couldn't leave you, Tadase!"

"And she's suddenly calling him by name!" Amu freaked out. Once again Amu, she's five.

The little girl saw Amu freaking out and cast a "He's mine, back off" glare at her.

"I give up." Amu said, collapsing on the ground. "I've been defeated."

Amu's Guardian Characters gathered around her. Ran and Miki told her to hang in there and that she shouldn't give up now while Su reminded her that if they didn't leave now, they'd miss the dolphin show. Meanwhile, Tadase tried to calmly convince Chisa to go back to her parents.

And so ended Hinamori Amu's "first date".

* * *

**END OF PART II**

* * *

**Yeah, I don't get why they put Easter on this date. I mean, I get that it's the first Sunday after the first full moon of the Vernal Equinox or something like that, but seriously, so much terrible stuff happened on this date. Couldn't they have done this last Sunday?**

**Also, I don't fucking care anymore if I get a cease and desist letter for writing this shit. I'm just gonna keep writing this until someone threatens to sue.**

**Anyways, see you in Part III.**

* * *

**This chapter was originally posted to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 4/20/14 **


	22. Part III: The Locket

"Keep your dream alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe."

-Gail Devers


	23. The Third Heir

**=7= ve~**

**"Sparks Fly" by Taylor Swift**

* * *

Logan had been spending his entire week calling lawyer after lawyer in an attempt to get the document he wanted drawn up. So far it hadn't worked; they all saw the human rights violations involved with such a concept and adamantly declined the offer. Logan thought he was out of luck when he got a call from a lawyer in Honduras.

"Hello." Logan said rather fustratedly with a slight tinge of sadness in his voice.

"Hola." The man on the other end of the line said. "Soy Toño Gutiérrez. Usted llamó a mi oficina preguntando si podríamos elaborar un contrato para usted, ¿verdad?"

"What?" Logan asked.

"Ah, sí." Gutiérrez said. Entiendo que cuando llamaste vosotros ha sido borracho o algo así. Sonaba como arrastrando las palabras Inglés. Puedo entender Inglés, pero no puedo hablarlo. ¿Puedes por favor que alguien que sepa hablar español para traducir para usted? Espera, me di cuenta de que no lo entenderías que ..."

"Who the fuck is this?" He asked.

"¿Por qué no me devuelva la llamada cuando tienes a alguien para traducir para usted?" Gutiérrez asked.

"Is this some Afghani guy calling in a bomb threat again?" Logan asked. "God damn it! Not this again! MIKU! COME IN HERE!"

Logan's secretary heard her boss's rather loud and disruptive demand and walked into the room while trying not to snap at him.

"What?" She said after letting out a very agitated sigh.

"Some Afghani guy is calling in a bomb threat again." Logan said. "Shut him up."

"Oh, not this again." Miku said as she lifted the phone Logan had handed to her to her ear. "مرحبا؟"

"¿Eh?" Gutiérrez, who was still on the line for some reason, asked. "¿Es alguien que puede entender español?"

"Oh, sí!" Miku exclaimed, not expecting that language to come out of the man's mouth. "Entiendo español!"

"¡Por fin!" Gutiérrez exclaimed. "¿Puedes por favor decirle a quien estaba en el teléfono antes de que yo soy Toño Gutiérrez, abogado de Honduras? Me llamó anoche sobre algún documento o contrato que quería que yo elaboro."

"Bueno, espera." Miku said to Gutiérrez before turning to Logan. "His name is Toño Gutiérrez, he's a lawyer in Honduras, and he's not a terrorist."

"You sure?" Logan asked. "Because I've heard that in some Spanish speaking places they have people who are worse than militant Islamics. I heard in, like, Colombia or something people get shot down by machine gun fire on nearly a daily basis."

"Oh, that is not true!" Miku exclaimed. "Where did you hear that?"

"Sakura TV." Logan said.

"Oh, well then, it must be true." Miku said sarcastically.

"What does he want, anyways?" Logan asked.

"He said something about drawing up a contract." Miku said.

"What?" Logan said in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah." Miku said. "That's what he said."

"Ask him if he understands what the contract fully entails." Logan said.

"Okay." Miku said as she took her hand off the phone. "Señor Huntzburger quiere saber si usted entiende lo que el contrato implica plenamente."

"Sí," Gutiérrez said. "entiendo perfectamente lo que quiere el señor Hutzburger y creo que puedo hacerlo de una manera que es perfectamente legal para hacerlo."

"Espera." Miku said. "He said he fully understood what you want and he might have a way you can do it in a way that's perfectly legal."

An evil smile spread across Logan's face.

"Tell him we have a deal."

* * *

I honestly don't know how the Locket got into my Great Grandmother's possession. All I know is that it was a beautiful, late summer afternoon in two-thousand one when she asked my mother to visit her in her room at one of the Hoshina family's mansions. The room was small with lemon yellow walls that looked all the softer with the delicate sunlight streaming through the windows. My Great Grandmother, Ingrid, watched the dust particles dance in the streams of light from her white-sheeted bed. She was bedridden. Doctors didn't even give her to the end of the month. She was fine with that. She was quite old. She had lived a nice, long life. She was happy leaving things as they were. All she wanted to do before she died, though, was talk to her granddaughter one last time.

My mother was quite the adorable five-year-old, I must admit. She had long blonde hair that she kept tied up in pigtails, much like Utau, and her purple eyes were constantly observing the area around her. Though, they never focused on one thing. They moved around the room, leading one to believe that she was constantly distracted. I think she was diagnosed with ADHD or something once because of this. In reality, though, she was focused and paying attention to what you were saying. She just had a problem staying still.

On the day that Ingrid asked to see her, my mother was wearing a white sundress and her favorite orange cardigan along with a pair of brown sandals and assortment of multicolored bead necklaces that came in her Disney Princess "Real" Jewelry Kit. She walked into the room, swinging loosely by her left hand, which clutched the door knob. The fingers of her right hand were placed in her mouth. This was a habit she had. She refused to remove them, even when she talked to the frustration of many adults.

"'Unie aid at oo aned oo ee e." My mother said.

"Yes, Liebling, come here." Ingrid said in a thick German accent that I doubt I could recreate, gesturing for my mother to sit on the bed with her. "And take your fingers out of your mouth. You look like a verdammt fool."

My mother obliged to sitting on the bed, but still refused to take her fingers out of her mouth, leaving Ingrid to muster up what little strength she had to pull them out herself.

"Liebling, you better be thankful the lord made you pretty." Ingrid muttered to herself. My mother heard her, but she was five and didn't get what it meant so she just took it as a compliment. "Listen, Liebling, look here." Ingrid said, cupping my mother's face in her hands so she would hopefully maintain eye contact. "Oma is old."

"Well, duh." My mother said. Ha, I love five-year-olds. They're such wise asses and they can get away with it 'cause they're so young. I wish I could get away with saying shit like that.

Ingrid ignored my mother's remark and continued on with what she was saying.

"Yes… And she is also very sick." She took a brief pause. "Oma is going to die soon, Liebling." Although she had quite a long time to get used to the idea, the finality in the statement that had just come out of Ingrid's mouth shocked her. Mortality is frightening to everyone, even those whose ends are imminent. She had to fight back tears as she looked her granddaughter in the eyes. Or, well attempted to. Like I said, as a child my mother was very fidgety. "And because… And because Oma is going to die soon, she's not going to be able to do certain things anymore. So, I need you to promise to do some things for me. Can you do them?"

"Okay, Oma." My mother said with a bright smile. "I'll do whatever you tell me."

"Alright." Ingrid said. "But first, you must promise me that no matter what, you will accomplish whatever it is I tell you, no matter how impossible it may seem. Can you promise me that?"

"Yes, Oma." My mother said. "I promise."

"Do you swear on your life?"

"I swear on my life."

"Good." Ingrid took a deep breath. "The first thing I want you to do is that no matter what, you will be an obedient girl who listens to her parents. Defiance is not a good trait for a lady to have. Always listen to your father as he knows what's best for you, and once your father is gone and you have been married off to a man of his choosing, you will obey you husband as you did your father. Understand?"

"Yes, Oma." My mother said. "I promise to be obedient and listen to daddy."

"Alright." Ingrid said. "The second thing I want you to promise is that you will never lose your faith in God. He knows what's best for you and as long as you pray to him and believe in him, he will take care of you. When you have children, you will teach them to pray and believe in him as well."

"Okay, I promise." My mother said.

Ingrid then used all of her remaining strength to force herself to sit up and grab a black leather box off the nightstand. With shaky hands, she offered the box to my mother. My mother quickly snatched the box out of her hands and opened it. Inside, there was a shiny, gold, star-shaped necklace.

"Wow…" My mother said as she delicately ran her fingers over the gold surface. "It's pretty…"

"This necklace is a prized possession of mine." Ingrid said. "I've had it as long as I can remember and now, I want to pass it on to you, Liebling. Now, this is real jewelry. Not any of that fake plastic stuff that Mama lets you play with. You have to promise to take very good care of it."

"Oh, yes, Oma!" My mother said with elation filling her voice. "I promise that I'll take extra, extra special good care of it!"

"Good." Ingrid said with a slight smile crossing her old, wrinkled face. "Now, that's supposed to be a locket or something, but I could never get it open. That's probably due to its odd shape." My mother wasn't paying attention to her. She was too busy observing her reflection in the surface of the gold locket. It was then that Ingrid's strength gave out on her and she fell back on to the mattress again. "Liebling…" She said, catching my mother's attention once again.

"What is it, Oma?" She asked innocently.

"There is one more thing I want you to promise me." Ingrid said.

"Sure." My mother said. "What is it?"

"Well…" Ingrid said. "In the Nineteen-sixties, Oma and Opa visited a place known as New York City. Ah, what a magical place it was. The bright lights, the Broadway Shows, the high-class restaurants, and all the people… Anyways, Oma and Opa went there and had the most amazing time. I don't think I had ever had that much fun in my life. There was one thing I wanted to do when I was there, though, that I had never had gotten to do. At the time, these two very, very large buildings were being constructed. It was said that they were going to be the largest in all of New York. I could just imagine the view from that height. Being able to see every movement of every person and vehicle… It'd be just breath taking… I made Opa promise me that the next time we came to New York, we'd go and climb to the top of that tower. But, we never returned. And since Oma is going to die, she can never do it herself. So, Liebling, I want you to promise me that at some point in your life you will fulfill this dream for me. Promise me you will climb to the top of the World Trade Center and see the sights I never got to see."

Ingrid's passionate speech had brought tears to my mother's eyes. Although she was only five, she understood the weight and importance of what Ingrid wanted her to do.

"O-okay, O-Oma." She said, slightly sobbing. "I-I pr-rom-ise t-to d-do tha-tha-at."

"Very good, Liebling." And with that, Ingrid shut her eyes and silently passed.

* * *

So I think you can tell right off the bat that my mother wasn't able to keep one of her promises to my Great Grandmother. I mean, Nine-eleven happened literally the next day. So unless someone finally figures out how to achieve backwards time travel (Which is unlikely, because, in the words of one Stephen Hawking: "If time travel is possible, then where are all the tourists?") she's pretty much already failed her. She also kind of failed to keep her promise again by disobeying her father and marrying mine. But, I kind of really can't get mad at her for that because if she hadn't, I wouldn't be here. Then again, is that a bad thing? 'Cause I think the world would probably be better off without me.

I also guess you could say she partially failed in her second promise, too. Don't get me wrong, although she doesn't go to church, my mother believes in God and prays and all that stuff, It's just… I'm not sure about Ikuto and Utau's religious beliefs, but personally, I'm Agnostic. I don't have anything against religion or anything, I'm just cool with whatever waits for me when I leave this world. Hopefully it's an afterlife in a pit full of lava, blood, and pain. So, yeah, technically she failed there.

So, in the end, the only promise my mother was able to keep was taking care of the Locket. She did a pretty good job of it, too. She kept it in its case, locked in the top draw of her dresser throughout her childhood and teen years. When she and my father went off to explore the world, she made sure it was locked in a safe in the deepest recesses of her parents rarely-used summer home in Okinawa where no thief would ever think to look. Even when she and my father moved into my childhood home she kept it very well hidden. I have to say, it took me quite a while to find it…

* * *

"So hungry..." I groaned as I walked up to Sarah's dorm room door. "SARAH!" I shouted as I knocked. "YOU BETTER FUCKING BE IN THERE, OTHERWISE I'M GONNA GO ON A CANNIBALISTIC RAMPAGE!"

"Jesus Christ, can you not be so loud?" She said as she opened the door, greeting me to the sound of "American Idiot" by Green Day playing full blast on the stereo. "Not that I mind, but you're on a school property. If anyone even hears you making threats about going on any sort of rampage, they'll hall both of our asses off to jail faster than you can say 'cannibalistic rampage'."

"Sorry." I said. "I'm just starving. Can I use your spare meal card to get something from the cafeteria?"

"I'd let you, but I can't." Sarah said, sitting down on her bed and going back to the game she was playing on her tablet.

"What?" I said. "Why not?"

"They found E. Coli in the water, so they closed the cafeteria." Sarah explained.

"They closed the cafeteria just for that?" I said. "That's stupid. Everyone knows that to avoid getting sick from E. Coli, all you have to do is boil water before using it."

"All the kids that go here either have parents that are millionaires or parents who are politicians." Sarah said. "They'd flip the fuck out if they knew the school had exposed them to E. Col- Damn it, _Flappy Bird_." I share your frustration, my friend.

"Don't you think they'd flip out more if they found out the school was depriving their kids of food?" I asked.

"Maybe." Sarah said. "But the school offered to take everyone to a Pizza Hut two towns over, so..."

"Wait, the school is taking people to Pizza Hut?" I had to make sure I heard that clearly. I love Pizza Hut. They're the only people who make the crusts the way I like it.

"Uh, yeah." Sarah said. "But I think they left already."

Fuck my life. I thought.

"Damn..." I said. "Hey, wait. Why didn't you go?"

"Oh." Sarah said. "It's cause I have some left over food from my dad's party the other day."

"Leftovers?" I asked.

"Yeah, they're in the fridge." Sarah said. "You can have some if you want."

"Thank you!" I shouted as if I heard those words from god himself and ran over to the mini-fridge at the foot of Sarah's spare bed. I opened it and found a tupperware container on the top shelf. I pulled that open and found... Shrimp...

"Uh, Sarah?" I said.

"Yeah." Sarah said.

"Is this the only thing you have saved?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" Sarah asked.

"I can't eat this." I said. "I'll die if I do."

"Huh?"

"I'm allergic to shellfish." I clarified.

"What?" Sarah said, finally putting down her game and looking straight at me. "You can't be serious. Aren't you Japanese?"

"Eurasian." I corrected.

"So, whatever the fuck you are, don't they eat a lot of this crap?" Sarah asked.

"Uh..." I said. "I guess, but that's kind of a stereotype..."

"How?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know!" I kinda snapped. "I'm just hungry, okay?"

"Alright." Sarah said. "Jesus Christ, Marceline. What's with you? When was the last time you ate?"

"Yesterday." I said honestly.

"Yesterday?" Sarah repeated in shock. "You haven't eaten since yesterday?"

"Nope." I said. "We ran out of food yesterday and my mom kind of found our cash stash..." And now I have to find a new place to hide it. Awesome.

"Well, shit." Sarah said. "I wish I had some cash on me or at least something you could eat."

"Nah, it's cool." I said. "I've gone longer without eating. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Sarah asked.

"I'm sure." I said. "Worse comes to worst, I'll just dumpster dive in the McDonald's dumpster again."

"That doesn't sound healthy." Sarah pointed out. "...Or safe."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." I assured her again.

* * *

I wasn't fine.

Within two hours I was standing in front of a Dunkin' Donuts trying to decide if it would be a better idea to run in there with guns blazing, demanding that they hand over all their doughnuts immediately or if I should be discreet about the matter.

"Oh Jesus Christ, this is bad." I said to myself. "I mean, it's only been a day and I'm already thinking of robbing a Dunkin' Donuts. God, what is wrong with me?"

I slowly walked away from the doughnut chain, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in my stomach that was telling me to go back there, jump behind the counter, and eat as much as I could before the employees restrained me and called the cops.

_Oh, god! I'm so hungry!_ I thought. _I think I'm getting to the point where I'm desperate enough to turn into Alfred Packard._

_Alright, calm down, Marceline. You don't have to resort to cannibalism just yet. You just need to keep your mind off of being hungry, then you won't be hungry._

_Yeah, like that'll work._

_It might! I mean, think about it. If you're cold and you think warm thoughts, then you're not as cold anymore, right?_

_So if I'm hungry, I should think about eating so that way I won't be hungry anymore?_

_No, I mean if you're hungry, then you should do something other than think about being hungry, then you won't be hungry anymore._

_Oh, and what do you suggest doing?_

_I don't know... Singing?_

_Singing?_

_It's all I could come up with on a moments notice._

_Well, it's better than nothing..._

I think I need therapy...

So, I tried doing what one of the many voices in my head suggested and started humming to myself. I think it would have worked if I had actually thought about the song I was humming and didn't just pick whatever came to mind off the top head. Don't know what I mean? The song is called "Koi wa a la Mode" and nearly all of the lyrics are about food. You can understand why I was finding it hard to not keep my mind off of being hungry or eating.

It could have been worse, though. I could have gotten stabbed by some random guy on the street...

* * *

"Okay! That's it! I can't take it anymore!" I shouted Friday morning, a.k.a. the beginning of the second day I went without food. "I am going to die soon if I don't do something!" I was pretty sure of that. I was in a state of perpetual dizziness and no matter how many Tylenol I took, I couldn't shake this headache. I needed to get some actual food in me fast. Not water I strained fifty times to get it to loose that brown color and sludgy texture, actual real food.

I went into my mom's room, not being careful as to how loud I was seeing as she's probably taken enough Valium at this point to sleep through a ten-point-oh earthquake. I went to the compartment in her dresser where she kept her jewelry and opened it up. If she wants to take our cash and leave Ikuto and I going hungry (Well, technically Ikuto could always get food at school.) that's fine, but she better understand that I'm an "eye for an eye" sort of person. Fuck with me and I will do whatever you did to me back to you. Maybe I'll even take it a step further.

I started taking whatever I could grab and stuffing it into the pockets of my trench coat. Seeing as everything in my mother's jewelry collection outside of her wedding ring was given to her by members of her family, there's a very high probability that I could be walking away with enough money to feed an entire poor African village for ten years. Why didn't I think of this two days ago?

* * *

It was a normal Friday at Seiyo Elementary. Well, technically, no. The fourth grade star class's teacher was gone and apparently he didn't tell anybody that he was leaving, so they didn't have a sub. Also, apparently none of the students felt the need to tell anyone this, so they just sat in the classroom and talked to each other.

Amu sat, staring out the window while the two girls behind her chatted away.

"Did you see that drama on TV last night?" Minami asked.

"I did!" Wakana exclaimed. "Okashin is so cool!"

"While I was watching, my dad suddenly got all mad and was like, 'What's so great about that show off?'" Minami said.

"Mine said, 'I was a lot cooler than him when I was young!'" Wakana said.

"As if, right?" Minami said.

"On the other hand, Amu-chan..." Oh, god. Don't drag her in, don't drag her in!

"Really has it made!" Minami and Wakana said simultaneously, effectively pulling Amu into the conversation and allowing the rumor mill to start producing more lies than Fox News can ever think of.

"Huh?" Amu said, turning to the two girls sitting behind her.

"Your dad's a super famous photographer!" Minami exclaimed.

"Your mom writes for a cool magazine!" Wakana exclaimed.

"Your family gets to live in a cool designer condo!" Manami exclaimed.

"It's so great!" They both exclaimed simultaneously again. "Super stylish!"

Why do people come up with this crap? I'm serious. Answer me, why? Is your life so boring that you have nothing better to do than make up stories about other people's lives? That's... That's kind of sad to me.

Minami and Wakana kept going on about how amazing Amu's life must be when Ran, Miki, and Su floated up.

"Doesn't your dad take pictures of wild birds?" Ran asked.

"And your mom's magazine is Housewife's Wisdom-desu?" Su asked.

"Rumors get bigger as they spread." Miki explained.

* * *

"Amu-chan, Ami-chan!" Amu's dad shouted. "Look this way!"

Amu and Ami turned their attention to their father as he took what was probably the six-hundredth picture he's taken of them today. Their parents had taken them to a park that had playground equipment made entirely of wood and rope. It was a pretty nice day for the middle of February. The sun was out and there wasn't any of those disgusting slushy piles of snow anywhere, so it was nice.

"Sis!" Ami exclaimed from the log swing she was sitting on. "Push me! Push me!"

"Alright." Amu said as she grabbed two of the support ropes and gave it a good push. Ami giggled as she swung back and forth on the log. Apparently, Amu's dad found this to cute not to take a picture of, so he climbed onto the frame of the swing, hung upside down, and began taking numerous photos of her. I'd complain about how dangerous and stupid that is, but I kind of can't bring myself to...

"Good grief, Dad." Amu muttered to herself.

"He's so passionate." Miki commented.

"Even more than usual today." Su said. "Amazing-desu."

"Wonderful!" Amu's dad exclaimed as he took the one-thousandth picture of his daughters that day.

"Dear," Amu's mom said. "should you be taking pictures only of Amu-chan and Ami-chan? We came here so you could work, didn't we?"

"That's right." Tsumugu said, remembering the reason why they came.

* * *

Tsumugu stood quietly near the edge of the wooded area of the park.

"What're you doing dad?" Amu asked.

"Shh!" Tsumugu said and gesturing for his daughters to keep quiet. He listened to the sound of the forest, waiting to hear the sound of what he was looking for.

Cheep-cheep-cheep!

Cheep-cheep-cheep!

"It's over there." Tsumugu said as he began walking in the direction of the bird. He stopped in front of the tree where the cheeping was coming from.

"What're you doing dad?" Amu asked again.

"Shh, look up there." He said pointing to one of the tree's branches. Upon that branch sat a small black, white, and red colored bird. "That's called a Great Spotted Woodpecker." Tsumugu then lifted up his camera and began taking pictures of it.

Dad has a serious side, too. Amu thought.

"Doesn't he look dreamy when he's working?" Amu's mom asked with a bright smile on her face.

"Dweamy!" Ami cheered.

"I guess." Amu said.

He's pretty cool. Was what Amu was actually thinking.

* * *

"Today reminded me of the first time your mom and I went on a date." Amu's dad said on the car ride home. Ami was already asleep, but the conversation caught Amu's attention.

"We went to a park together." Amu's mom said.

"I was so nervous!" Amu's dad said.

"You tripped five times!" Amu's mom said.

"That's right!" Amu's dad said. "We ate ice cream together."

"That's right!" Amu's mom said.

"And after that, we took pictures on the grass!" Amu's dad said.

"Right, right!" Amu's mom said.

"You looked lovely in that white one-piece dress." Amu's dad said.

"Right, right! What?" Amu's mom said. Then suddenly she began emitting a dark aura. "That's not what I was wearing." Oh shit... "Are you mistaking me for someone else?"

"No!" Amu's dad said nervously, trying to cover up his mistake. "It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! Um, you were definitely wearing... Um... Um..."

"You don't remember, do you?!" Amu's mom shouted, scaring Tsumugu and causing the SUV to swerve across the road.

* * *

"You're always like this!" Amu's mom shouted as she got out of the car.

"You don't have to get so angry about it!" Amu's dad cried.

"But you always forget the things that matter." Amu's mom said. "Like when you-"

"Fine!" Amu's dad cried. "I'll run away!" He then ran crying into the house.

Jesus Christ, running away? You just forgot what she was wearing! That's a very minor and easily forgettable detail. I mean, while I know I wouldn't forget a detail like that because if I haven't made it clear yet I have an eidetic memory, but as a girl I wouldn't fault a guy for not remembering something small like that. I get that he had a sex life before me. I did, too. This fight just seems so stupid to me. But then again, when my parents fought, it was always about something serious. Like this:

"Souko, what the hell is wrong with you? You don't just leave the kids at a Wal-Mart!"

"Oh, relax. They were fine."

"Fine? They were left unsupervised in the most white-trash retail chain on the planet! You're lucky they weren't hurt or killed."

"Oh, there's no way they could have died at a Wal-Mart."

"They could have been lured off by someone!"

"No they couldn't have. The store has a Code Adam."

"The store doesn't go in to Code Adam unless the parent reports the child missing!"

"So?"

"So if someone tried to walk off with one of the kids, no one would stop them."

"I don't think so."

"What?"

"Ikuto, Utau and Marceline are smart. They know to kick and scream if someone tries to take them."

"Then how do you explain why Marceline went off so willingly with that creepy guy in the park?"

"What she said. He promised her candy."

"She's too little to understand that if a stranger offers her candy, she shouldn't go."

"Oh, you know that's baloney. If she can read Shakespeare and understand what Old Bill was trying to get across, then she can understand that she shouldn't go off with anyone."

"One thing doesn't mean the other, dear."

"Oh, you just don't wanna admit I'm right."

"Seriously? You think you're right?"

"Yes."

"You've gotten banned from Wal-Mart, arrested for child endangerment by the police, and fought with several people over this matter today and you still think you're in the right?"

"Yep."

"I'm... I'm gonna go lie down..."

Then a few hours later we'd hear them having sex and everything would be cool again. I swear to god, my father was too forgiving when it came to my mother...

Oh, and just to note, I did know it was wrong to take candy from strangers. I just went along with all those people 'cause I wanted the candy and I thought I could take 'em.

* * *

"Huh?" Amu said as she carried her sister into the house. "Where's Dad?"

"Who cares?" Her mother said, still irritated, and walked to the bathroom. She turned the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. "Huh?"

"I won't open it." Amu's dad said from the other side of the door. "I'm running away!"

"That's not running away." Amu pointed out. Thank god she has some sense. I mean, seriously? Locking the bathroom door. That's running away to you? That's the best you can come up with? You know that you have a car and your house isn't that far from a train station and a bus stop, right?

* * *

Amu's mom was finishing frying up omelets for her daughters' dinner and laid them out on the table for them.

"Omelets!" Ami cheered.

"Thanks for the food." Amu said.

"Hold on a second." Their mother said, stopping them from preceding on with their meal. She then went over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Dear, dinner is ready."

"Dinner..." Amu's dad said on the other side of the door. For a second he seemed like he was going to fall for it, but then he remembered that he was supposed to be "running away". "That won't work! You can't tempt me with food! I'm not the kind of man that can be enticed by such things!"

"Oh, really?" Amu's mom said. "But I made your favorite fluffy omelets."

"Fluffy omelets!" Amu's dad's said, his resolve clearly breaking.

"About earlier," Amu's mom said. "I was in the wrong, too. I apologize."

"So do I!" Amu's dad cried as he literally jumped out of the bathroom and wrapped his arms around his wife. "I ran away, even though it was my fault!"

"Come on," Amu's mom said. "Let's all have dinner together."

"Okay." Amu's dad said.

"Was that running away?" Ami turned to here older sister and asked.

"I dunno." Amu said.

Why don't I tell you, Ami? No, that's not running away. That's just hiding in the bathroom because your wife is pissed at you. Real running away is when you leave your children in the hands of an incompetent woman and go off somewhere in this great big world of ours to abandon/avoid your responsibilities or when you take Valium and Vicodin to the point where you can't ever respond when your daughter is screaming directly in your face. That's real running away. What your father is doing is called being a man-child, which may be looked down upon by society, but it's a hell of a lot better than just outright abandoning your kids.

Damn... I really need to work through some of these issues...

* * *

"You make the best omelets in the world." Amu's dad told his wife, happy that they were able to make up. She giggled with a bright smile on her face. "You know, to commemorate our reconciliation, we should get that picture out."

"You mean the picture that was taken when we first met?" Amu's mom asked.

"That's the one!" Amu's dad said.

"Great Idea!" Amu's mom said.

"A picture from the first time you met?" Amu asked with a mouth full of omelet.

"That's right." Amu's mom said. "That picture holds precious memories for us. It comes from a time when I was young and working part-time at a publisher's. Back then, my dream was to become a journalist. Things weren't going very well at all, though. 'Maybe I should just give up on my dream', is what I kept thinking."

* * *

Amu's mother sat on a park bench, staring up at the sky. Like she said, she was beginning to regret her decision to become a journalist. She felt like everything she had been working towards had been completely for nothing. She had wasted thousands of dollars in tuition to get a degree in journalism and now she was finally doing the job she had always dreamed of doing, but getting nowhere in the field.

Unfortunately, this is very common in the world of journalism. I know some people who are reporters or have a degree in journalism, and they've told me some pretty disheartening stories. It's an extremely competitive field with very few positions open. Also, despite the fact that nearly all noteworthy publications have pretty much moved online now, the Internet isn't helping the situation at all. Nearly any loser with enough time on their hands to make a Blogspot account can go around claiming to be a "reporter" and report the "news" and have thousands of uneducated idiots believe it. Hell, even "news networks" like Fox News and Sakura TV are guilty of doing something similar.

So, Amu's mother thought there was no hope.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and Amu's mother turned her gaze to the direction that the flash came from. She saw a young man standing there in a white-and-red plaid shirt and a tan vest, holding one of those old-fashioned Polaroid cameras. You know, the ones where the picture came out in front. (Wait, did they even still make those in twenty-twenty-five?) As he pulled the camera away from his face, he revealed the huge smile that was plastered on his face.

"You're wonderful!" He said in a very cheerful voice. "You sparkle!" He then took a few steps forward and then handed the printed out picture to here. "Here!"

She took the picture in her hands and stared at it for a few seconds.

"U-um..." Amu's mother said, somewhat nervously.

"B-bye." The man said before running off. He didn't run off like he was embarrassed, though. He ran off like he was elated that he worked up the courage to at least talk to that pretty girl.

Amu's mother just sat there, looked at the picture, and looked back at the man running off and cheering "I said it! I said it!".

"He's a strange one" She said with a smile, then giggled to herself. "All right, I'll keep trying!"

* * *

"A little while after that came our fateful reunion." Amu's mom said.

"Really?" Amu said.

"I was able to realize my dream of becoming a journalist because of your father's encouragement." Amu's mom said.

"So the picture is the one dad took that day?" Amu asked.

"Yes!" Amu's mother said. She then got up and pulled an album off of a book shelf in the living room. She then sat back down at the table with it. "I keep it in this album."

"Oh," Amu's dad said. "but I was looking at it earlier and I put it in a copy of _Wild Birds Monthly_." Why would you do that?

"_Wild Birds Monthly_?" Amu's mom repeated.

"Yeah," Amu's dad said as he got up and pointed to a storage cabinet in the living room. "Right here." He opened it to find it completely empty. "Oh-no, the Wild Birds Monthly is gone!"

"Didn't you take that one to the bazaar yesterday?" Amu asked her mother. For those of you who don't know, a bazaar is pretty much the same thing as a flea market in America. People get together in an empty field or a parking lot of some sort and have one big yard sale together. You always go to one hoping to find something cool and useful to you, but what you end up finding is other people's useless crap. Trust me, they're a waste of time. You'll find whatever your looking for faster, cheaper, and easier on the black market. Granted, it's probably stolen but who the fuck cares?

"I-I did!" Amu's mom cried out in a mixture of panic, fear and shame.

"Why would you do that without checking inside first?" Amu's dad asked in anger.

"It's your fault for putting important stuff in there!" Amu's mom shouted.

"You're just too careless!" Amu's dad shouted. "Like when you carelessly ate my pudding!" Oh, we're getting off track again...

"You should talk!" Amu's mom shouted. "You used my toothbrush!" He's your husband, what does that matter? Unless he has AIDS or something there really isn't a really a reason for something like that to be a problem. At least, I don't think so.

"That was just a mistake!" Amu's dad shouted.

"I don't believe you!" Amu's mom shouted. "That's not possible! Yours is blue and mine is pink!"

"They've moved on to completely unrelated things now." Miki pointed out.

"Really." Ran said.

"Please stop fighting-desu!" Su said.

"I've had enough!" Amu's dad shouted. "I'm running away!" And then he ran back into the bathroom, but before he could shut the door he realized that he might be in there for a while. So, he ran back out to the kitchen, took as many snacks as he could hold in a white plastic grocery bag, and then ran back into the bathroom. Once again, that isn't really running away.

"He went in the bathroom again." Ami said, stating the obvious.

"Seriously, that's not running away." Amu must have the ability to read other people's thoughts in the future, 'cause that's exactly what I've been thinking this entire time.

"You can just leave him alone in there." Amu's mom said as she went to put the album back on the shelf. "He's so..." She then glanced down at the album and whatever insult she was about to say quickly disappeared from her brain. "That picture means so much to me."

"Mom." Amu said.

"Amu-chan, let's go look for it!" Ran said cheerfully.

"Yeah, Sis!" Ami said in agreement.

"Ami." Amu said.

"It might not've been sold yet." Miki said. That's actually extremely likely. Once again, they only sell things nobody wants at bazaars.

"Your parents will be so sad if their precious picture is lost-desu." Su said.

"True." Amu said. "Mom, where's that bazaar being held?"

"In the central park," Amu's mom said. "but I'm sure it's too late."

"We won't know if we don't go!" Amu said.

"Amu-chan." Amu's mother said. "You're right."

"I'm gonna help, too!" Ami cheered.

"You should stay home, Ami." Amu said. "You might get lost or something."

"What?" Ami said, disappointment filling her voice. "No! No! No! No!"

"Ami-chan," Amu's mom said bending down to look her youngest daughter in the eyes. "please take care of your dad for me. This is a mission that only you could carry out!"

"A mission onwy I can do?" Ami asked.

"That's right!" Amu's mom said.

"Roger!" Ami cheered.

"All right, let's go!" Amu said, full of motivation.

"Yeah!" Ran, Miki, and Su cheered simultaneously.

* * *

I gazed in both shock and awe at the assortment of delicacies in my fridge. I swear to god, it's never been this full in my life. It was stuffed with everything from dark chocolate cheesecake to Monster energy drinks. (Don't worry, we had healthy stuff in there, too.) I stood there, deciding what morsel I wanted to eat first.

_Oh, the chocolate-covered mint cookies look so good..._ I thought. _Oh, but so do the jell-o cups. I can't decide what I want!_

After several minutes of careful consideration and contemplation, I decided on just having an apple. It's probably better to just have something light and healthy rather than gorging myself on enough sugary foods to give an elephant both Type II Diabetes and a mild cardiac infarction.

I took a bite out of the nice, juicy, red apple and began to walk out of the kitchen. As I walked out I passed by Ikuto, who apparently was just waking up even though it was four in the afternoon. (What the hell? Was he up all night?)

"Oh, hey." I said. "I just went shopping last night. There should be plenty in there to eat."

"'Kay." Was all he responded back with.

I just shrugged and began to ascend the stairs. A few seconds later I heard a masculine cry of "Oh my god!" and went back down to the kitchen. I saw Ikuto standing there, mouth agape, in complete shock over the contents of the fridge.

"Holy hell..." He said. His eyes didn't lose focus on the many riches that lied in the refrigerator in front of him, so I guess his cat-like senses told him that I had entered the room. "Where the hell did you get all of this?"

"Oh." I said nonchalantly from the doorway. "I just sol-"

"**AAAHH!**"

I was cut off by a woman's scream. Within seconds Ikuto and I were in the living room, about to run up the stairs to our mother's room when she came bursting out of it.

"**OH MY GOODNESS, WE'VE BEEN ROBBED**!" My mother screamed.

"What?" Ikuto said.

"**WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!**" My mother repeated. "**SOMEONE TOOK ALL MY JEWLERY! ALL OF IT'S GONE!**" She then burst into a bout of sobs.

"Oh my god." Ikuto said. "Do you think they broke in?" Very real possibility of that happening.

"I don't know." My mother managed to get out between sobs.

"I know nothings missing from my room, I just cleaned it." He muttered to himself. "Marceline, is anything missing from your room."

"Nope." I said as I slowly started making my way towards the stairs. I didn't want to make it look like I was running, but I had to get out of there fast. Ikuto is just as smart as me. Well, not in the same way that I am. I smart enough to know what to do to survive and I could probably take a test on every book ever written and get a one-hundred for a score.

Ikuto, however, is different. In addition to being more musically-minded than I am, he's also pretty good at reading people. He can easily tell when you're lying directly to his face. I think only a pathological liar or someone who's had years of practice in the art of lying would be able to get a lie past him. I am neither. In fact, I think he can tell when a lie is about to come out of my mouth. As soon as he figures out that there's no way someone broke into the house, I'm gonna have to be as far away from the house as I can possibly get or lie to his face. I think I have better chances of out running him, so I better get as much of a head start as I can.

I start ascending the stairs when he starts contemplating how they could have got in. I'm halfway up when look of realization crosses his face. I'm at the top when I see the look of complete and utter shock and disgust in his eyes.

"Marceline!" He shouts. I quickly bolt for my room. Since my room is the closest to the stairs, it isn't much of a run, though. I quickly turn the little pinch-lock on the door (I think the correct term may be thumb-lock, but I'm not sure. It's those little things on the end of the doorknob that you have to pinch and turn to lock the door.) and quickly move to push my dresser in front of the door. I hear Ikuto attempt to turn the knob as soon as I've gotten in between the dresser and the wall.

"Marceline, open the door!" He shouted on the other side.

"NO!" I shout while giving the dresser a good push, moving it halfway in front of the door.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ikuto asked. "You can't just sell other people's crap like that."

"We were completely out of food!" I shouted back. "What other choice did I have?"

"You could have sold some of your own crap!" He shouted.

"All of my crap is hot!" I shouted. "I bought it all on the black market! If I tried to resell it there, I wouldn't be able to fool anyone and get low balled. That is, if someone doesn't catch me trying to resell what they sold to me and get the shit beaten out of me." I took a couple of breaths because I ran out of air screaming like that. It was then that I realized something. "Wait, why the hell are you defending her? You know that she's the one who spent the money in the first place!"

"Someone has to." Ikuto said on the other side of the door.

I had no response to that.

I stood in front of the door quietly for a few minutes. For a few seconds, I thought he might have walked away, but I heard a sigh come from the other side of the door a few seconds later.

"Marceline, can you please just open the door so that way we can calmly talk this over?" Ikuto asked.

"Promise you aren't pissed?" I asked.

"I am, but I'll try to restrain myself." Good enough for me.

I pushed the dresser back into it's original position against the wall, unlocked the door, and let him in. He took a seat on my bed, I sat down on an old bean-bag chair that we've had for god-knows-how-long.

"Do you think your friends down at the black market will be willing to give you the jewelry back?" Ikuto asked.

"Actually, I didn't go to the black market this time." I said.

"What?" Ikuto asked. "Why not? Did you get gypped or something."

"No." I said. "It just wasn't open." Well, technically it was. On Friday nights, our local division of the black market holds a little gambling night. You know, Poker, Black Jack, Roulette, Russian Roulette, Cock Fights, Dog Fights, Cock Fights, ect. I tend to avoid the black market on Fridays and Saturdays, just simply because the gambling draws in a certain crowd and this crowd apparently likes to slap and pinch an eleven-year-old girl's ass. I don't wanna find out if they'll go further than that.

"So where did you sell all of it?" Ikuto asked.

"I sold it all to a guy down at the bazaar in the park." I said. "He seemed to know a lot about jewelry and gold prices and all that shit. I think he gave me a pretty decent price, too." If you consider five-million yen a decent price. (For those of you wondering, that's fifty-thousand US.)

"You think you can get it back?" Ikuto asked.

"Not all of it." I said. "I mean, I sold it all to him on Friday. It's been two days. I wouldn't be surprised to find a big chunk of it gone... But then again, it is a bazaar."

"So?"

"So what?"

"Can you do it?"

"I could at least get some of it, but not the whole thing." I said.

"So you'll do it." He said.

"Hell no." I said.

"What?" Ikuto said in disbelief.

"What?" I said. "I thought we were being hypothetical here."

"What part of this conversation made you think we were being hypothetical?" Ikuto asked, trying to keep that calm tone.

"Well, you didn't honestly believe I'd actually help get the jewelry back, did you?" I asked.

Ikuto sighed.

"Why do you lead me in circles?" Ikuto asked.

"It's fun." I said without hesitation.

"Okay, you know what?" Ikuto said as he got up and looked around the room. "If you don't get mother's stuff back, I'll sell something of equal or lesser value of yours."

"Yeah." I said. "Like what?"

"Like..." His eyes landed on something on my desk and he walked over to it. He picked up my phone and held it up to me. "Like your phone."

"No!" I strongly said in protest. "Sarah gave it to me! Don't!"

"If you don't want your phone sold," Ikuto said. "then get mother's jewelry back."

Damn. Although that phone is probably only wroth at least a thousand yen on eBay, just the fact that Sarah gave it to me is enough to make me want to fight to keep it. I don't want to explain to her what happened to the phone she stayed up all night to get three years ago. Okay, she probably wouldn't care either way, but I would. I have this weird thing with owing people. I feel like the only way I can pay Sarah back for the gift of the phone is to keep using it until it won't turn on anymore.

"Alright, fine." I said with a huff as I turned on the ball of my left foot and marched over to where my coat was on the bed.

* * *

I said that bazaars are notorious for having nothing but other people's useless crap there? Well, apparently people like trying to find something of value in other people's useless crap. The park was so crowded, you could barely even take one step without bumping into someone. If they were holding this bazaar indoors, they'd probably be breaking some sort of fire code.

Amu and her mother were wading through the crowd. Trying to find either the booth or the lady that she sold the magazine to.

"It's so crowded here." Amu's mother remarked. No shit, Sherlock.

"It's too early to give up, though." Amu said with an air of encouragement.

"Amu-chan!"

"Huh?" Amu froze for a second. "I thought I heard Nadeshiko's voice."

"Over here! Over here!"

Amu turned around and saw the strawberry blonde that had shouted the last sentence jumping up over the crowd and waving her arms.

"Yaya." Amu said.

* * *

Amu and her mother went over to the booth that Nadeshiko, Yaya, and Nadeshiko's grandmother/nanny were running. Bayaa was selling ultra-rare Japanese figurines, dolls, scrolls, and other items that looked like they'd break if you just breathed on them. There was this one doll that Amu noticed that seemed to have this dark aura around it. She asked about it, and Bayaa said that it's hair just gets longer and longer. Amu's extremely afraid of the occult, so this made her scream. I should note that I know the doll isn't cursed. It's a Halloween decoration. They sell them at iParty. It's purposefully meant to freak people out. Nadeshiko's mom just told them to sell it because they don't really have a use for it. Amu was just too freaked to hear the rest of what was said.

Yaya, meanwhile, was selling a bunch of cute looking dolls and toys that only a very young child would be interested in. Unfortunately for her, most parents with very young children either left their babies or toddlers at home or just stayed home and missed the bazaar completely. Only an idiot would bring a child that young to a crowded place like that. Mr. Creepy McPervertpants could easily lure of a child with promises of candy and a ride in a really cool van while their attention was drawn elsewhere. I should know. That was the exact tactic used on me that time I was lured away at the park. Yaya, however, didn't understand why her toys weren't selling and was very disappointed.

"Amu-chan, are you shopping?" Nadeshiko eventually asked.

"No, I'm sort of looking for something." Amu said.

"Looking for something?" Yaya asked.

* * *

"Man, it's noisy today-nya!" Yoru said as he and his stray cat gang looked on at the bazaar from one of the few spaces of otherwise unoccupied grass at the park. "I can't even take a nice walk-nya." Yeah, I think he was hanging out with Ikuto until Ikuto and I started fighting. At that point, he probably bailed. "It looks like they're selling a bunch of stuff-nya. Maybe there's an Embryo here!" Yeah, they're probably selling them at the same booth where they're selling rainbow-shitting unicorns. "Nah, there's no way." Damn right there's no way.

Yoru looked around, and before long noticed three girls - one with dark purple hair, one with pink hair, and one with strawberry blonde hair - walking through the bazaar and immediately recognized them.

"What are they doing herenya?" Yoru wondered aloud. Then a thought struck him. "Could they be looking for the Embryo?" He exclaimed aloud in excitement. "I can't let them out of my sight-nya! After them-nya!"

...

Okay, Yoru, I get that you and Ikuto are desperate enough to buy into this crap, but for the love of god, use your fucking head! Even if that stupid thing was real (Which it's not.) why in the hell would it be just hanging around for sale at the Toride Community Bazaar Extravaganza for the Cure and Awareness of Crabs? (They really should have thought about that name first.) It wouldn't! So stop thinking that the damn thing is every place you go. Odds are it isn't even real anyways.

* * *

"Thank you very much!" The older woman at the booth said to her customers as Amu's mother walked up behind her.

"Excuse me." Amu's mother said. The older woman turned to look at her.

"Oh, Hinamori-san, hello." The older woman said.

"Do you still have any of the things that I brought." Amu's mother asked the older woman. "Specifically, in a cardboard box full of magazines, one called Wild Birds Monthly."

"Oh, that?" The older woman said. "It's already been sold."

"It has? Oh-no..." You could almost hear her heart break with those words.

"Mom?" Amu said as she ran up to her mother.

"We're too late." Amu's mother dejectedly said. "It's been sold."

"What?" Amu said as she processed the information, then turned to the older woman manning the booth. "Excuse me, do you remember what the person who bought the magazine looked like?"

"It was a boy with glasses, I believe." The older woman said, trying to remember more details. "He said he liked wild birds."

"A boy wearing glasses?" Amu repeated. She then turned to her mother with a smile on her face. "Mom, let's look for that boy and ask him just to give us the picture back."

"But..." Amu's mother trailed off.

"He might still be here." Amu pointed out.

"But there are so many people here we'll never find him." Amu's mom said hopelessly.

"We will." Amu said. "Let's just do what we can."

"Amu-chan." Amu's mother said.

"The bazaar is big, so let's split up and search." Nadeshiko said.

"Yeah!" Yaya added.

"Nadeshiko, Yaya." Amu said, happy that her friends were willing to help out. "Okay, we'll meet in an hour in front of the clock tower at the edge of the park!"

The four of them agreed to this arrangement and set out on their search. Little did they know, a little blue cat-eared Guardian Character had overheard their conversation...

* * *

I sighed as I finally arrived at the park. Unfortunately for me, jaywalking and moving as slow as possible did not cause an accident to befall me and I still had to get the jewelry back. God damn it.

I ran my hand over the bumps of the long braid that went down my back and dangled at the height of my kneecaps until my arm couldn't reach any farther.

_It's okay._ I thought. _Just give the man the small amount of cash you took from the new stash and see what you can get for it_.

I only brought a tenth of what I actually had left over from the grocery shopping. I'm not stupid. I'm not gonna spend cash that could save our lives later on my mother, who probably would have sold the jewelry herself to support her little drug habit. I had a feeling Ikuto suspected that the amount of cash I took with me was a little light, but he didn't call me on it, thank god.

As I walked through the bazaar, I noticed people watching me closely. I don't blame them. With my wash-worn sweat-shirt, ripped-up jeans, and dirty knee-high boots, I just screamed homeless druggie. They were probably worried that I was gonna "shoplift" from them. Please, I only pocket things that are valuable to me. Not random crap that no one else would want.

I finally came up to the booth where the guy was selling jewelry. To be honest, I was a little suspicious of this guy. I've seen him around the black market. He's this sketchy, tan, beer-bellied guy who always hangs around with the guys who set up the gambling tables. The red-headed woman who sells cheap, home-made wine out of the trunk of her Camaro warned me to stay away from him. He likes to gypp people and doesn't like it when people try to take back what's rightfully theirs. Apparently, I was too dumb to listen to her words because I still sold the jewelry to him anyways.

I watched as the elderly couple who probably didn't know where they were, let alone if the people around them were trustworthy, saunter of to some place else.

_Ugh, I wonder how much cash he was able to lift from those two corpses._

I shuddered with disgust at that thought as I stepped over to the booth. I said nothing as I slammed the money down on the table. The guy sat there quietly in either shock or confusion, staring at the cash I had laid down.

"What is this?" He asked.

"I want my jewelry back." I said in a deep, harsh tone that said "don't fuck with me".

"What?" He said again. It looked as though he was trying to figure out who I was. He could place the face, but he couldn't remember the name.

"The jewelry that I sold to you for five-million yen." I said, hoping that much would ring a bell in his memory. "I need it all back."

"Oh, Tsukiyomi-san." The man said, remembering who I was. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. See the sign." He pointed upwards to a sign that he had tapped to the top of the awning that made up his booth. It read:

**ALL SALES ARE FINAL!**

I furrowed my brow.

_Asshole doesn't want to deal with the people he rips off. Jerk._

"I sold the stuff to you," I said. "therefore, that rule doesn't apply here."

"Yes it does." The guy said.

"Really?" I said. "How?"

"I uh..." Of course he doesn't have an explanation. He tried to avoid answering my question by trying to shout "shooter" then running off, but I was one step ahead of him. I had an arrow loaded in my bow, aimed at his head in less than a few seconds flat.

"Freeze!" I nearly shouted. The man turned his attention to me and realized I could easily end his life in a matter of seconds. He raised his hands above his head as a weak form of surrender.

I took in a deep breath. I needed to stay calm and already my anxieties were beginning to get to me. I was holding a man at arrow-point in the middle of a crowded public park. I wasn't paying attention to what the crowd around me was doing, as I could only see what was directly in front of me but the murmuring of people's voices around me had stopped. It seemed obvious to me that people had stopped whatever they were doing and had either all ran off in one burst or froze with fear. I really hoped it was the former. I'd never be able to get away with any mistakes if it were the former.

"Look," I said, trying to keep my voice steady yet intimidating at the same time. "If you give me what I want, I won't kill you."

"No way!" He shouted. "You sold it to me fair and square. You can't just give me a fraction of what I gave you and expect me to give it all back."

"Oh, no." I said. "I'm doing more than that, I'm threatening to fucking kill you. Give me my crap back, you asshole!"

"No!" The guy shouted.

"Fine then!" I shouted back.

_Am I really gonna do this?_

* * *

After nearly twenty minutes of looking around the bazaar (but never once going near the part where I was) Amu had found several boys who matched the description the woman gave them. She was almost about to give up when Ran called her attention to a boy they had yet to question.

"Hey!" Amu called out to him as she ran over to where he was. "You there!"

"Huh?" The boy said as he turned around. "H-Hinamori-sempai!" It was Amu's number one fanboy, Seiichiro Suzuki.

All of the sudden the background turned golden and sparkly for no real reason.

"Wh-what?" Amu said in confusion. "Wh-what's going on?"

"To see you on a weekend and have you call out to me..." The boy said with his voice softly echoing for dramatic effect. "I'm just too happy!" You know, if he wasn't just eight or nine years old, this would be really weird and creepy.

"Um," Amu said once the background disappeared, leaving her standing there exhausted and confused. "did you buy any copies of Wild Birds Monthly here today?"

"How did you know?" The boy asked in shock.

"So you did!" Amu exclaimed.

Seiichiro then just blankly stared up at here, probably getting lost in some fanboy fantasy.

"Let me see that magazine!" Amu said. Before he could even give a response, a stray black cat came along and knocked the magazine right out of Seiichiro's hands. It then disappeared behind some boxes and proudly showed it off to his leader.

"Well done-nya!" Yoru said. "Does this magazine contain the secret of the Embryo-nya?"

...

I'm not making that argument again.

Yoru took the magazine from the black cat when Amu ran over to them.

"Yoru!" She exclaimed."Give that back!"

"No, it's mine-nya!" He said as he ran off.

"Wait!" Amu called after him.

Meanwile, Amu's fanboy stood there, as he watched her chase after a being that he could not see.

"Hinamori-senpai." He said. "Even the way she leaves is 'cool and spicy'."

* * *

Amu's dad bit into one of the cookies that he brought into the bathroom with him. I have to say, not many people would have the resolve to stay in a bathroom for an hour and forty-five minutes just because their wife was pissed at them. But then again, the guard in front of the door might have something to do with that...

"Ami-chan." Amu's dad said to the small child on the other side of the door. "Is your mom back yet?"

"Not yet," Ami said. "but I'm standing guard until she comes back!"

Tsumugu let out a bit of a whimper.

* * *

Yoru leafed through the magazine with his cat friends surrounding him on all sides. The way they were looking at the magazine, you would've though they were a bunch of teenage boys eyeing a stolen _Playboy_ in the days before internet porn became popular.

Amu, meanwhile, was running all over the park searching for him. She eventually came to the only secluded area in the park at that point, which was by the clock tower where everyone agreed to meet.

"Jeez, where'd that Yoru run off to?" Amu wondered aloud.

"Amu-chan, over there!" Miki said, pointing over to a tree where a group of cats had gathered in the high branches.

"So that's where he is!" Amu said.

"Amu-chan, Character Change!" Ran commanded.

"Right!" Amu said. Suddenly, the red X-shaped clip in Amu's hair changed into a heart shaped one.

"Hop!"

A pair of tiny wings appeared on the backs of Amu's wrists.

"Step!"

Another pair appeared on the backs of her ankles.

"Jump!"

Amu jumped up into the air, moving towards the tree that Yoru and his friends had situated themselves in.

"Give it back, Yoru!" Amu demanded. The catlike Guardian Character only responded by sticking his tongue out as he flew off with the magazine. "Wait!" Amu called after him.

They flew and jumped around in circles around the very small area where people couldn't easily see. Amu continually yelling at Yoru to give the magazine back and Yoru continually ignoring her. Eventually, Yaya and Nadeshiko had come across them as they were on their own search for the magazine. They quickly realized that Yoru had the magazine and Character Changed as well to try and help.

"Try" is a key term here. They didn't actually help, they just made things worse. Nadeshiko's naginata and Yaya's Giant Rattle missed Yoru completely and ended up striking the clock tower. I guess technically, it wasn't entirely a bad thing because that clock tower hadn't shown the correct time in years, but if a cop saw or something they'd definitely be paying to replace it.

It also wasn't entirely a bad thing for Amu, either. Their little mess up distracted Yoru long enough for her to try to grab the magazine back. She grabbed one side of it and pulled hard. Yoru, however, apparently has the strength of an eleven-year-old and was not only able to hold on to the magazine, but put up a decent struggle for it.

"What're you doing-nya?" Yoru asked as he struggled to take the magazine back.

"Give it back!" Amu cried. "Even if it's just the picture inside!"

"I don't wanna-nya!" Yoru whined.

"Give it back!" Amu cried again.

Amu's foot then slipped on the tree, causing her and Yoru to both let go of the magazine and go flying backwards. At the same time, the Character Change wore off, leaving Amu unable to safely land.

The magazine suddenly flipped over, causing the photo inside to fall out. Amu noticed this and quickly reached out and caught it.

"I got it!" She exclaimed in joy just seconds before she let out a terrified scream as she realized she was falling face-first towards the ground. She was able to flip onto her back before she hit the ground, but that didn't make the impact hurt any less.

Amu laid on the ground with the wind knocked out of her for what felt like eleven minutes to her but was really only a few seconds in reality. Miki floated up to her.

"Are you okay, Amu-chan?" She asked.

"That looked painful-desu." Su said as she floated up.

Yoru then floated over to Amu.

"I'll let you get away today-nya!" Yoru said and then floated off.

"Never come back, you jerk!" Ran shouted after him.

"Ouch." Amu said painfully as she tried sitting up. She was slowly regaining the ability to breathe normally, but her back was already completely consumed in pain.

Her mom better take her to the doctors as soon as she catches up to her. Amu would be lucky to walk away with only a bruise. She fell from twenty-five feet in the air. I know from experience that a fall from that height can do some serious damage. I climbed a tree once and found the nest of some not-so-friendly bugs just two or three branches above me. I wasn't sure if they were bees or wasps or something else, but I didn't want to take the risk. Instead of calmly climbing down from the tree, I jumped out of it and ended up bruising my heel and fracturing my tailbone. I couldn't get out of bed for five weeks and couldn't walk without crutches for eight weeks after that. Not on my top ten list of most humiliating moments, but definitely up there.

"Amu-chan, are you okay?" Nadeshiko asked, her voice full of concern.

"II'm fine." Amu lied. She could already feel the huge bruise forming on her back, but she ignored it. Adrenaline was begining to kick in, though, so for a few hours it'd be painful, but Amu would be able to manage it for a few hours.

"And the picture?" Yaya asked.

"I've got it." Amu said as she held it up. That's when she noticed that it had been ripped and torn, either during the struggle or the fall. "It's all ripped."

"What'll we do, Amu-chan?" Ran said as she store at the torn-up photograph.

"We have to do something about that clock tower, too." Miki reminded everyone.

"We're sorry." Nadeshiko and Yaya said in unison, both seemed honestly remorseful about what they did.

"What should I do?" Amu asked aloud.

"Amu-chan." Su said. "If you need something fixed, leave it to me. If you do a Chara Nari with me, it will all be okay-desu."

"Oh yeah!" Amu said. She remembered that Amulet Clover's ability, Remake Honey, could fixed broken and damaged items as well as purify X-Eggs.

"My Own Heart! Unlock!" With that, Amu transformed into Amulet Clover.

* * *

"Here we go, Amu-chan." Said Miki, who was holding the picture.

"There!" Both she and Ran shouted. Miki threw the picture in front of the clock tower.

"Remake Honey!" Amu shouted, causing both the photo and the clock tower to be covered in a stream of golden, honey-like light. Once it had disappeared, the clock tower was standing straight up with no sign that the face of the clock having been smashed in (Though, it still wasn't displaying the correct time.) and the picture slowly floated into Amu's hand. She looked down at the photo and saw it in all of its beautiful, non-torn-up glory, showing her mother staring up at the sky while gentle rays of sunlight stroked her hair and face.

"So this is Mom and Dad's treasure."

* * *

"Amu-chan." Amu's mom said a few minutes later as she arrived at the designated meeting spot. It was obvious that she had given up all hope of finding the picture. "I didn't find it."

"Here!" Amu said happily as she handed it over to her mother. "Isn't this it?"

Amu's mom stared closely at the photo and her expression immediately changed from one of hopelessness and dejection to astonishment, and gratitude.

"Yes." She said as she rushed to embrace her daughter. "Thank you so much, Amu-chan!"

"Too tight!" Amu said, trying to make the little whimper of pain she let out due to her sore back sound like a jestful laugh.

"Thank goodness." Ran said.

"Yeah." Miki agreed.

"I'm touched-desu." Su said.

* * *

"Dear, you don't have to cry anymore." Amu's mother said to her husband, who was sitting on the couch crying like a baby.

"But I'm just so happy!" He sobbed out.

"My goodness," Amu's mother said. "you've always been such a crybaby."

"Amu-chan, thank you." He turned to his eldest daughter and said.

"It's no big deal." Amu said. I know she's supposedly more of a 'kuudere', but right now, she's acting very 'tsundare'. (For those of you who don't know what the hell that means, 'kuudere' is someone who acts cold, blunt, and cynical but is really nice and caring on the inside. 'Tsundere' is someone who's sharp and sarcastic on the outside but is very loving on the inside.)

"You're so cool!" Oh Christ, even her own father is fanboying over her now.

"But Dad," Amu said, thinking back on the story her parents told her earlier. "why did you talk to Mom when she was looking so depressed?"

"Oh that's because..." Her dad started. "At that time, it was my dream to become a wild bird photographer. But no matter how many times I tried to sell my pictures, it didn't work out." Does this story kind of sound familiar? "That's when I saw your mom working so hard. She shone more brilliantly than anyone else. When I saw her, I knew I had to keep trying, too. So when I saw that she was feeling down, I just had to give her something, just like she had shared her motivation with me. I was able to become a wild bird photographer because of her."

Amu's mom sat there with red cheeks and an astonished look on her face. It was apparent that this was the first time she heard her husband's side of the story.

"So you knew about me before we even met?" She asked.

"I was so embarrassed that I couldn't talk to you." He said with a blush rising to his cheeks as well and a grin on his face.

"Oh, darling!" Amu's mother exclaimed as she took her husband's hands.

Amu sighed as she watched her parents be all lovey-dovey. Then a thought struck her.

_If Mom and Dad had dreams, they must've had heart's eggs, too. They raised them carefully, got married, and then Ami and I were born._

"Your mom and dad are wonderful, aren't they?" Ran said as she, Miki, and Su floated up.

"Yeah." Amu said.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world because I got to marry you!" Amu's father said to his wife. "And I also get to be Amu-chan and Ami-chan's father, two cute girls who look just like me!"

"Excuse me?" Amu's mother said. "They're so cute because they take after me, not you."

"No, they look just like me." Amu's father said.

"No, they don't!" Amu's mother snapped.

Oh, here we go again.

Amu just sat there, and watched as the chatter in the living room changed from lovey-dovey to senseless bickering.

"They're fighting again." Ran said.

"And over something stupid." Miki added.

"Fighting is bad-desu." Su said, looking like she might cry.

"I'm gonna run away!" Amu's father cried.

"To the bathroom again?" Amu's mother asked. Tsumugu froze in his tracks for a second, then continued to run to the bathroom. He flung open the door and saw his three-year-old daughter sitting on the toilet lid.

"Occupied!" She cheered. Tsumugu fell to his knees.

"This time for sure, I'm gonna really and truly run away!" He cried.

"To the bathtub this time?" Amu asked. Her mother laughed.

Oh well, look on the bright side. It wasn't like they were having an argument over how much the children resembled the mailman.

* * *

"You can't hold me." I said. "I have immunity."

"Yeah, and my wife is Gabriela Isler ." The cop said from the desk across from the cell I was locked in.

"I'm serious, dude, you can't keep me here." I said.

"Officer to you, ma'am." The cop corrected me. "And you're staying in that cell until tomorrow morning when you can go before a judge."

"This is bull shit." I muttered under my breath. "Stuck in jail with an asshole cop..."

"I heard that." The cop said. I emitted a low growl in response.

To be clear, I didn't kill the guy who was selling the jewelry. At the last second I dropped my bow and ran straight for the table. I took as much as I could stuff in my pockets and tried to run off. Unfortunately for me, an off-duty cop happened to be there ant tackled me to the ground. The guy told the cops I tried to rob him and about five people who probably weren't paying that close attention corroborated his story. I was arrested and had nearly all of the jewelry confiscated from me.

Nearly all of it. I was able to sneak one necklace into my bra before the cop tackled me. Thank god they didn't do a thorough pat-down on me, otherwise I wouldn't have it.

I rolled on my side with my back to the camera that I noticed in my cell and slowly pulled the necklace out from my bra so that way I could get a better look at it. It was a beautiful star-shaped pendant that was about the size of my palm. It had a beautiful, shiny, solid gold surface that I could see my reflection in. I slipped a bobby pin out of the front pocket of my pants and held it to the gold surface. It didn't stick.

Holy fuck, it's real gold. I thought and was immediately overcome with anger. I was angry at my mother for keeping something like this from us and I was angry at myself for not thinking she might do something like that earlier. I took in a deep breath to try to dispel the anger. There's really no point in getting pissed now.

I then slowly began to run my finger around the star. When my finger hit one of the points, I noticed that the gold had slightly shifted. For a second, I thought I had broken it, but quickly realized that it was supposed to shift like that. I began to move the gold cover counterclockwise until I heard a click. At that point, it wouldn't move any farther. I figured out that you could lift up the gold sheet, much like one would do with a normal square, circular, or heart-shaped locket. I wondered how it was possible seeing as it was such an odd shape, but gave up when I realized that the answer wasn't going to come to me easily.

When I opened up the locket, I was amazed by the inside. The top half contained a regular, ordinary mirror, but the bottom half was made of some sort of marble-like surface. It looked like real marble and it felt like real marble, but it was lighter than regular marble and had a four leaf clover-shaped gem in the center.

_It's beautiful. I think... I think I want to keep it._

* * *

**Yeah, I just wanted an excuse to use the little Italy-face emoticon. =7=**

**So, long time no see, bitches. What's up? What's it been? Four months? Five? To be honest, I hadn't planned on it. I kind of had a bit of a mid-fic crisis. I think I'm over it now and I'm pretty much back in a good place. Hopefully, you won't have to wait forever for the next chapter. ^-^;**

**Oh, and I think I said this before, but I'm not putting song lyrics in the page breaks on the Blogspot anymore. Too much of a pain in the ass. :(**

**So, if anyone's still reading this, thank you. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go watch _Cannibal! The Musical_. **

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 9/26/14.**


	24. How to do Someone Else's College Essay

**YOU TUBE LIED TO ME!**

**"Lights" by Ellie Goulding**

**NOTE: Title has been changed in this version because I ran out of characters. It was originally "How to Half-ass Someone Else's College Essay".**

* * *

You know, I sometimes you can underestimate how fast a week can go by. You wake up Monday morning, expecting the week to drag on like none before it, and the next thing you know, it's Friday afternoon and you're walking out of work or school thinking:

_Wow, that went by fast._

Take me for example. When I woke up Monday morning, I was expecting to be spending the entire week in jail because that fucktard cop refused to look me up in ICID (International Crime Information Database) and see that I did in fact have immunity. However, when I woke up I was told that it was all just a screw up and I was free to go. Thank god. I think I would have gone madder if I had to stay in that tiny little cage for any longer.

The rest of the week went by in a blur. Logan had stopped following me for some reason, so by Wednesday I felt safe enough to finally go hunting in the woods. Earned myself a pretty good hunk of cash for all of the squirrels and rabbits I killed. The rest of the week was pretty much spent watching the Kurds and ISIS have it out on CNN and reading _Catcher in the Rye_ for the billionth time.

Amu, meanwhile had a much different week. She woke up on Monday morning pretty much completely unable to move due to the pain in her back. Her mom took her to the emergency room, and it turned out that while nothing was broken, she did bruise her back pretty good. They gave her a CAT scan and did a blood test to make sure no internal organs were damaged. Thankfully, none of her organs were harmed. She just had a very scary looking bruise on her back. The doctor prescribed her some ibuprofen for the pain and told her just to take it easy until the bruising started to dissipate.

Tuesday and Wednesday went buy in a blur of early-morning talk shows and oh-so-predictable daytime Soap Operas. (SPOILER ALERT! Katy is pregnant with Ricky's baby and Lisa cheated on Joe with Todd on _Passions of All My Young and Restless Children Through the Days of Our Lives on Coronation Street_.) The most notable thing that happened was that someone apparently climbed up on to her balcony in the middle of the night and left a bag filled with candy by the door. (Hm... I wonder who that could be?)

When she returned to school on Thursday, she found that someone had finally told the main office that Nikaidou hadn't shown up to school for nearly two weeks and they had assigned a substitute. The substitute apparently didn't care about teaching the kids anything, so she just put on the History Channel and called that and called "teaching". I mean, the History Channel is about history, right? It has to be at least somewhat educational.

Yeah, if you're thinking that, you obviously haven't watched the History Channel recently. The kids just ended up watching reruns of _Pawn Stars_ for the entire day. Let me tell you, that show is a rip. The people who come on are clearly actors and the items they bring in are so ridiculous, you'd have to be a moron to think people would actually possess that crap, let alone sell it. In one episode, this lady brought in floor plans for the Pentagon and I was just so blown away by the idea that I couldn't stop laughing. Seriously, what the fuck. I mean, I know nearly every official in the US Government is stupid, but they're not that stupid. They'd never let plans like that out in the public, even if they were first drafts. Oh, I could only imagine the conversations parents are having with their kids about this.

"So, Johnny, what did you learn in school today?"

"I learned that you can sell a bunch of wrestling action figures for five-hundred bucks using a tag for scrap silver."

"I'm paying five million yen for you to go to that school. What the hell are they teaching you?"

Yeah, it's funny how fast a week can fly by.

* * *

I showed up at Sarah's dorm around five PM on Friday. She had called me on the phone in complete panic mode. I told her to calm down and tell me what was wrong, but she just told me to get there as fast as possible and hung up. Rude?

I wasn't in much of a hurry to get there, though. I mean, it's Sarah we're talking about. It's not like she's being held hostage by Iraqi militants. (They would have cut off her head by now if she was, anyway.) It's probably a crisis about clothes or hair that I have no particular interest in. So, I was in no rush to go and help her.

To be honest, I didn't really mind taking my time to get there. Not because I dislike Sarah or anything, but because it was so unseasonably warm. We were approaching the last weekend in February and it's nearly fifteen degrees Celsius (Sixty Fahrenheit) outside. Fifteen! That's nearly unheard of! I remember this time last year I was seriously considering starting a fire in the house just to keep warm because the blizzard had not only knocked out the power, but the heat as well. Heh... And Fox News says Global Warming is a myth...

When I finally got to Sarah's dorm room, I took one more moment to enjoy the pleasant weather and warm air before knocking. Within seconds the door flew open.

"Oh my god, thank god, you're here!" Sarah said as if she couldn't get the words out fast enough. "Come in, come in!" She then took my wrist and pulled me into the room. I tripped over a bag as she pulled me in and was barely able to steady myself before colliding face-first with the floor.

"Ah!" I let out in surprise. "What the hell Sarah?" I started rubbing my wrist. She pulled rather hard.

"Sorry." Sarah said as she locked the door behind her. "But I need help, fast."

"With what?" I asked carefully as I sat down on the spare bed. I kept opening and closing my fist to make sure Sarah didn't do any damage to it.

"Well..." Sarah said. "You... You know how when you apply to a College or something, you have to write an essay..."

"Yeah," I said. "so?"

"So..." Sarah said with a voice full of shame and embarrassment. "I kind of... Didn't... Do one..."

It took me a minute to process that sentence.

"What?" I finally said.

"I didn't do my college essay." Sarah said through her hands, which were now covering her face.

"Okay." I said. "Why is that a big deal? I thought you didn't want to go to college. Unless, you've suddenly changed your mind. In which case I'd say that it's probably too late to do that seeing as you're graduating next month."

"I know that." Sarah said. "I didn't change my mind. It's just my bitch of an English teacher."

I realize I should say something after the long silence that's only filled by the musical stylings of Linkin Park.

"Elaborate?" is the only response I can come up with.

"Because I didn't hand in an essay, she gave me an F." Sarah explained. "That means, in combination with all the work I didn't do over the course of the year, I'm going to fail the class. If I don't fix it, I won't be able to graduate."

I don't know what to do. Sarah looks so freaked I'm afraid she's gonna burst into tears. I can't handle that. Most of the time if I see someone (other than my mother) crying, I leave the room or get off the bust or train I'm on and wait for the next one. I can't do that now, though. Sarah is my friend. I'd be cruel to walk out on her like that. So, I make my best attempt to comfort her.

I stand up, pat her on the shoulder and say "There, there" awkwardly. She shoots me a glare.

Crap. I think. I forgot, Sarah hates being touched almost as much as I do.

"What the hell was that?" Sarah snaps.

"I patted you on the shoulder." I couldn't say anything other than the obvious.

"Why?" She asked.

"I... Uh..." God damn it, brain! "I was trying to comfort you?" I'm trying to chose my words carefully 'cause I'm scared I did something extremely unacceptable and now she's gonna crack me in the face.

"I don't need you to comfort me." Sarah said, trying to shake the pissyness from her voice. "I need you to help me."

"Help you?" I question. "How?"

"Can you write the essay for me?"

I hesitate. Under normal circumstances, I'd say no. Homework is one thing, but an essay is something else entirely. She can get into real trouble if the teacher figured out she didn't write the essay. But then again, if Sarah doesn't hand this in - or worse, fails it - she'd have to stay in school for another year. I know she doesn't want to do that. She's had to sit in a hot, crowded school for a total of four-thousand seven-hundred fifty-five days spread over the past fifteen years. She's sick of it. She wants out. It'd be like setting her scalp on fire if I didn't at the very least help her.

"I'll write it." I said. "But you have to come up with the idea for it."

"What?" Sarah said. "Why can't you just make something up yourself?"

"Because if they question you on it, you need to be able to answer them, right?"

Sarah stays silent.

"Okay, then." I said. "So, what exactly do they want you to write?"

"Oh, hold on." She says while going over to the bag I tripped over when I came in. "My teacher gave me a list of prompts I could do." She pulls a purple folder with obscenities and little doodles scrawled across it. She flips through a few papers, before finding the one she needs and pulling it out. "Here." She says as she hands it to me. I look down at the page and read the instructions written across it.

The College Essay - Common Application Writing Prompts 2038-2039

IF your college is using the common app (don't tell me you don't know) you need to choose from one of the following prompts.

IF your college is not using the common app, please list your college name and the prompt somewhere on your essay.

COMMON APPLICATION PROMPTS

1\. Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

2\. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

3\. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

4\. Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

5\. Discuss and accomplishment or an event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

FOR EACH PROMPT, THE MAXIMUM WORD COUNT IS SIX-HUNDRED FIFTY WORDS!

I stare at the paper for a minute, taking in the information. Then I think:

_Wow. They seriously want her to recount a time where she experienced a failure. What are they stupid?_

I sigh. It's not just that one. All of these questions seem way too personal. I guess they're supposed to be that way, though. I mean, colleges want to be sure they're not admitting a dangerous sociopath or psychopath. What better way to weed 'em out then to have them write an essay about themselves. Then again, most colleges don't see any problem with admitting rapists, so...

I look at Sarah, who's still on the cold, tiled floor sitting next to her backpack.

"Any idea which one of these you wanna do?" I ask, handing the paper back to her. She stares at it for a second and sighs.

"No." She says, halfway between a groan and a sad whimper.

"Do you know when your teacher wants it?" I ask.

"Monday." Sarah says.

I groan, close my eyes and fall backwards onto the bed. I lie there for a second, taking in deep breath. I eventually open my eyes and stare up at the ceiling.

_This is going to be one long weekend._

* * *

"Look, look, Amu-chi!" Yaya squeeled excitedly. "I got a fan of Sho-kun from DARTS!"

"I got a Kagawa Masashi-sama hand towel." Nadeshiko said not as loudly as her companion, but still excited none the less.

It was after school on Friday. There was no Guardian's Meeting, so Amu, Nadeshiko, and Yaya all went out shopping. They were currently in a store that sold CDs and other merchandise from various musical acts. (You would think that iTunes and Amazon would have drove them out of business at this point, but they seem to be doing very well.)

"Uh, that's good." Amu said, not really understanding her friends' enthusiasm.

"Hey, hey, do you have any favorite singers, Amu-chi?" Yaya asked.

"Hm, let me think." Amu said, running through all of the singers could think of in her head. Her gaze shifted slightly to the left and she caught sight of a poster on the wall.

Utau was wearing a blue dress that looked as delicate as the petals of a flower or the wings of a butterfly. She had one bent arm raised above her head, almost like she was trying to block out the sun. Her eyes were fixed on something far off in the sky. Across the poster, in purple letters read:

Meikyuu Butterfly

Utau Hoshina

"Utau Hoshina?" Nadeshiko asked when she noticed Amu looking at the poster.

"She became the singing queen all of a sudden, didn't she?" Yaya said. No, it wasn't exactly "all of a sudden". It required months of strategic planning on Easter's part and an entire year of training on Utau's. The public is just so easily manipulated, that they don't even know it's happening.

Amu just continued to stare at the poster.

_Since she works for Easter, does that mean she's an enemy, too?_ Amu thought.

* * *

Abiko is a town just south of Toride and I've been told that it has much better shopping. I mean, we have the Toride Mall and the Promenade which is an (overpriced) outdoor shopping center with a giant glass awning over it to protect people from the rain. That's pretty much it unless you count the Black Market, the numerous business that line the main road (Most of which are sketchy at best.), and Wal-Mart.

So, for obvious reasons, Amu, Nadeshiko, and Yaya decided to go shopping there. The streets were littered with brightly colored buildings and bright advertisements for various products. They were everywhere. On the sides of buildings, in windows, on the sides of buses, in fliers being handed out by various people. You could not escape the commercialism in this town.

Amu, Nadeshiko and Yaya slowly strolled through the streets as the light was slowly but surely starting to fade.

"Hey, hey, where are we going next?" Yaya asked. "What'll we buy?"

"Aren't you already over your budget for today?" Nadeshiko asked.

"It's okay!" Yaya assured.

Amu smiled, and turned her head slightly to the right. It was then she noticed a familiar face inside the restaurant they were passing.

"Huh?" Amu said as she looked in the window. "Kukai?"

Sure enough, he was in there, sitting at a table with a burger and taking a sip out of a glass.

"He would appear to be eat-" Su couldn't finish that sentence before Yaya threw herself against the glass shouting "Hamburgers!" gleefully.

This pulled Kukai's attention away from his food and to the three girls standing outside with their Guardian Characters. He and his Guardian Character, Daichi, both laughed.

* * *

The restaurant was decked out to look like one of those stereotypical American-style diners. You know, the ones that still have jukeboxes even though they're way outdated and have framed pictures of rock-stars and road signs everywhere. Although they had a few other options on the menu, this place seemed to specialize in hamburgers.

I have to say, even though it's "an American thing" I've never actually seen a place like this in America. I mean, I'm sure they're out there, but most of the places I've been to in America that nearly exclusively sold burgers either had a set of golden arches or a smiling girl with her red hair tied up in pigtails. Oh, wait. Does Red Robin sell only burgers or do they sell other stuff, too? I haven't been there in awhile, so I forget. If so, then add Red Robin to that list.

Fuck, I need to stop getting of track.

"Wow, what a great place." Amu said as she looked around.

"It's the type of place you'd see in an American movie." Nadeshiko said.

"But it really doesn't suit Kukai." Yaya said.

"You can say that," Kukai said. "but I've been coming here since I was a kid."

"Welcome!" Their waitress said as she walked up to the table. She had a bright smile on her face as she held up a tray of burgers. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy bun, and her grey-ish brown eyes reflected the light in the room. "Kukai's grown so big by eating the hamburgers here, instead of drinking milk." I'm guessing she overheard the conversation they were having as she walked up.

"Shion." Kukai said.

"Bringing three girls with you," Shion said as she set the burgers down on the table. "what a stud!"

"They're friends from school." Kukai explained. He then turned to his friends and pointed at Shion with his thumb. "She's Shion. I've known her since I was a kid." Let me guess, after this weekend she will never be seen, heard, or spoken of again?

"Nice to meet you." Shion said.

"So you've known Soma-kun since he was small?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Yep, since he was born." Shion said.

"Oh, oh!" Yaya said excitedly. "What was he like when he was little?"

"Let's see..." Shion said, thinking back to when Kukai could barely toddle. "He was the type who'd laugh like nothing was wrong even if he peed his pants."

All three girls started laughing.

"That's so like him!" Yaya exclaimed.

Believe it or not, Kukai laughed, too.

"I don't remember that at all!" Kukai said.

Shion then leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"So which one of them are you serious about?" She asked.

"Huh?" Kukai said in confusion.

"Don't try to hide it." Shion said. "Tell me." She then put an arm around his neck and messed up his hair in an attempt to get him to fess up.

"Shion, I give! I give!" Kukai begged. I thought the magic word was "uncle".

"Tell me!" Shion insisted. Eventually, though, she did let go.

"Hey, Shion," Kukai said. "do that thing you always do."

"No." Shion said. "I'm busy serving customers right now."

"But she was goofing off." Daichi pointed out.

"It's okay, Shion-chan," Her boss said from behind the counter. Apparently, he was eavesdropping on the conversation, too. "they can all wait."

"Right on, boss!" Kukai cheered.

Soon after that, a number of customers began begging her to do whatever she was gonna do.

"If you insist." She said with a smile and the restaurant became abuzz with excitement.

"What's about to happen?" Amu asked.

"Something good." Kukai replied.

Shion walked over to a piano and sat down in front of it. She took in a deep breath and then started playing an upbeat jazz piece. And... Uh... Yeah... It was pretty... Had a nice sound... And music notes...

Okay, okay! I admit it! I know nothing about music! Yeah, I know my dad's a violin prodigy, my brother's just as talented as him, and my sister's a famous idol, but I seriously know nothing about music. My dad tried to teach me, but that just wasn't where my interests lied. I'd rather climb trees and read George Orwell than sing or play an instrument. I don't even have good taste in music! Seriously I have everything from Eminem to Taylor Swift to Ke$ha to Evanescence to Arcade Fire to Superchick (I didn't know they were Christian Rock when I downloaded the album. I just thought that the girl was singing about a boyfriend, or a close friend, or a family member in "Crawl (Carry Me Through)", not Jesus.) on my iPod! So I'm sorry if I'm a disappointment or something for not being able to describe someone else's piano playing, but god damn it, I really don't know how!

So yeah... Even though I can't describe her playing other than using the word "good" with a question mark next to it, the Guardian Characters seemed to enjoy it 'cause they were dancing to it and eventually, when the piece was finished, the restaurant broke out into cheers.

I suck...

* * *

"Oh come on, Sarah!" I groaned. "There has to be something that you'd share with people!"

"Nope." Sarah said.

"Not even one thing?" I asked.

"Not even one." She confirmed.

"There has to be something!" I exclaimed.

"Nope, nothing." Sarah said.

"Agh," I groaned as I slammed my head against the desk. "This is getting us nowhere."

"Can't we just go online, find a college essay that's already been written, slap my name on it and hand it in?" Sarah asked. "I'm starting to think that'd be much easier than doing this."

"It would be," I said. "but I don't think your teacher is that stupid. She's probably gonna look for some trace of it online after you hand it in."

"Damn!" Sarah groaned. "Why do they make crap like this so hard!"

"It'd probably help if you came up with an idea." I said. "I've been staring at the same blank page for four hours now, Sarah. Give me something."

"Alright," Sarah said. "I have something." At that, I perked up and pulled my head off the desk.

"Really?" I said. "Let's hear it."

"Okay." Sarah said. "Why don't we take Bikini Bottom and push it somewhere else?"

And I slammed my head on the desk again.

"Sarah, be serious." I said.

"I am being serious." Sarah said.

"Quoting an episode of _Spongebob Squarepants_ is not being serious." I said. "Come on now, think of something! Something serious!"

"I can't!" Sarah said.

"Why not?" I asked/snapped.

"The questions are too personal." Sarah said. "I mean, they want me to talk about a place where I feel perfectly content, or a time where I failed, or my life story, or whatever the fuck else. All of that crap is way too personal to me and I couldn't picture myself telling that shit to just anyone."

I have to say, I agree. I'm not the type of person who just blabs their secrets to anyone either. [Once again, (If I haven't said it yet.) I am planing to take the hard drive out of this laptop and blowing it up with M-80 firecrackers once I've finished writing this. If you are a person whom I haven't met in real life, I can only assume that someone who says they haven't been using my laptop without permission is lying, published this without telling me and is now going to get their ass kicked. Hard.] If I had to write an essay like this, I'd probably have an anxiety attack so bad, I would have to be taken to the hospital just to calm down.

Then I remembered something. I'm not going to explain the full circumstances of why I had to do this, but I had to get up in front of a crowd of people and tell them about myself. I was really freaked because I had to make each and every person in that crowd like me, otherwise I could end up in real trouble. This one person that I had come to trust suggested that when I was asked a question, to respond to it like he was the only person I was talking to. It did make the whole process much easier for me, so I thought that maybe this could work for Sarah.

"Okay." I said. "Then if you really don't think that you could tell this shit to strangers, don't think of it that way. Think of it like you're talking to me."

"Uh..." Sarah said. "I'm not sure..."

"We're friends, right?" I asked.

"Well, yeah." Sarah said.

"And you trust me, right?" I asked.

"Y-yeah..." Should I feel offended or something at that hesitation?

"Then stop over thinking this." I said. "Just tell me a story from your life and I'll make it sound amazing so that way you'll pass."

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked. "'Cause I'm not gonna lie, I've done some fucked up shit."

"Sarah," I said. "I promise you that for every horrible thing you've done in your life, I've done a hundred different things that were a thousand times worse. There's no way you can piss me off, offend me, or scare me."

"Okay..." Sarah said nervously.

* * *

"How is it?" Yaya asked as she randomly hit keys on the piano. She, Tadase, Amu, and Nadeshiko had gathered in the school's music room after school because Yaya wanted to try playin the piano. "Do I sound like Shion-chan." Uh, I may not know enough about music to describe it but I do know enough to know that the sounds the piano was producing were not that pretty-sounding. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Yaya was actually torturing the piano.

"Not at all." Amu said kind of bluntly.

"It sounds like you're trying to get rid of some stress." Nadeshiko said.

The door to the music room rolled open and Kukai walked in.

"Hey, guys." He said. "Why are we meeting in the music room?"

"Yuiki-san insisted." Tadase explained.

"She wanted to act like Shion." Miki said.

"Shion-san looked so cool playing the piano," Yaya said disappointedly. "so I wanted to play, too."

Nadeshiko giggled and said: "I had no idea you had such a wonderful acquaintance, Soma-kun."

"My house is close to hers," Kukai explained. "And she's friends with my parents, so she's like my big sister."

"By the way, how old is she?" Nadeshiko asked.

"She'll be nineteen soon." Kukai said. "I think her birthday's next week." You've known this girl since you were a kid and you don't know when her birthday is. Wow... Then again, I shouldn't be surprised since she'll fade out of existence next week.

"It's a chance!" Yaya exclaimed. "A big chance!"

"For what?" Amu asked.

"For a childhood friend to be reborn as a girlfriend." Dafaq?

"A birthday is a perfect event for that." When did he say he liked her, Nadeshiko?

"Girlfriend..." Amu said. "Wait, Kukai and Shion-san?" Exactly! He never said he liked her! You people are putting words in other people's mouths!

"Naturally!" Yaya and Nadeshiko cheered simultaneously.

Alright, ignoring the fact that Yaya and Nadeshiko are making up things about other people, even if Kukai did like her, she would go to jail if he started a relationship with her. She would probably even be put on the sex offender list. Why? Because she's nineteen and he's twelve! That's why! If he really did like and/or love her, the best thing he can do for her is stay quiet about his feelings so that way she wouldn't end up joining the cast of Orange is the New Black.

"Huh?" Kukai said, just as confused as to where Yaya and Nadeshiko were getting this from as I am. "What're you talking about?"

"Right," Amu said. "their ages are too far apart!" See, Amu agrees with me!

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Yaya said. "you don't get it. In love, an age difference..."

"...doesn't matter" Nadeshiko finished. Yeah, because it's perfectly legal and normal for a twenty-six-year-old to fuck an eight-year-old. Dear god, why do I feel like someone is going to use that statement to justify something horrible? ...Or at the very least as justification as to why it's okay to ship two people who have at least a six year age difference.

"I didn't know!" Amu exclaimed.

"Jeez," Kukai said. "weren't you guys listening? Shion and I are like siblings!"

"That just gives you the opportunity..." Yaya started.

"...to change the relationship!" Nadeshiko finished.

Jesus Christ, you guys are really forcing this on him, aren't you? He said that there's nothing between them! He doesn't want a relationship with her! Why are you trying to force him to do something he doesn't want to do.

And then, just to make matters worse, Tadase put his hand on Kukai's shoulder and said: "If I can do anything, let me know. I'd be happy to help." Dude... Weren't you listening to him? Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. For some reason, he's more likely to believe girls than guys. I remember once, my cousin (who's a guy) told Tadase that if he got in the trash can then the garbage man would come and take him to Candy Land. Tadase didn't believe him. I say the exact same thing, next thing I know his mother is screaming at mine for letting me convince her son to climb into the trash can at four in the morning.

"Gotta love that airheadedness." Was Kukai's only response to the offer.

* * *

"We can't use that, Sarah." I said.

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"Because it's not appropriate." I said.

"How is kicking my drug habit not appropriate?" Sarah asked.

"Well, one, you only kicked it for a week and a half before you fell off the wagon again." I said. "And two, if you actually submitted that to any colleges, they probably wouldn't accept you."

"She isn't grading me on how likely I would be to get in." Sarah said.

"Actually, kind of, yeah." I said.

"What?" Sarah said, confused.

"Think of it this way," I said. "the higher the grade you get on this, the more likely you would be to get in to a school. Trust me, no school would let you in if they knew you had a drug habit." I'm not sure if that made any sense. All I know was that it was late Saturday afternoon, I was on my fifth Red Bull, and we had gotten just as much done on the essay as we did the night before, which was nothing.

"Ah..." Sarah said as she stretched across the bed. "This is frustrating. First, you want me to be completely honest about everything I've done in my life, now you're saying that all the ideas are inappropriate. God, since when were you Miss Censorship?"

"Since Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl." I said.

"What?" Sarah said, confused.

"I don't know." I said. "All I know is Red Bull isn't a good substitute for sleep."

"Then why don't you sleep?" Sarah asked.

"Because no one's sleeping until we come up with an idea." I said. "Now come on, spit one out."

"I can't think of anything!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Sure you can." I said as I took another sip of Red Bull.

"No, I can't." She said. "God, I wish we had an easier prompt. Then we'd get something done."

"Yeah." I said. "This probably would be much easier if we had a prompt that was less personal." Then, a thought struck me. "Hold on, didn't that paper say that you could use an essay from another college if you wanted?"

"Uh, yeah." Sarah said. "But I think you have to be planning to attend that college."

"Who the fuck cares?" I said. "As long as you hand in the essay, I don't think your teacher will care."

"Alright." Sarah said.

"Give me your iPad." I said. "I'm gonna start looking up schools."

* * *

Golden light streamed through the large windows of the restaurant as Shion wiped down the tables. Her boss sat behind the piano, hitting random keys. Not in the way that Yaya was randomly banging on them, though. He would just hit one key, let the note die out, hit another key, let the note die out and so on and so forth.

"I know we have no customers," Shion said as she looked up from the table. "but I think you're slacking off just a little too much."

"When I think I might not be able to hear you play anymore," Her boss said. "I get so sad."

"Boss." Shion said sadly at first, then her voice perked up a bit. "Jeez, don't say stuff like that! Though, I do feel a little uneasy about this, too."

"Sorry, sorry." Her boss said. "I'm rooting for you, so do your best."

"I will." Shion said.

* * *

"Man, I'll be caught up in their plans for a little while." Kukai said as he walked home from school.

"For you and Shion?" Daichi asked.

"Yeah." Kukai said with a grin. "But if I tell her, I think she'll play along."

Eventually, they came to the train tracks that divided the town in half. The lights were flashing and the broken guarder bar came down (Only one of those bars were broken, though. That leads me to believe that some idiot though they could beat the train and failed.) indicating that a train was coming and Kukai was forced to stop. He looked over, saw Shion standing on the other side of the tracks and called her name. She looked up and began to wave, but the train sped past her.

* * *

Shion had dragged Kukai to the foot traffic bridge that went across the river to allow foot traffic between Toride and Abiko. They were currently by the riverbank next to the bridge, with Shion sitting on the ground looking through the grass.

"What are you doing?" Kukai asked.

"Looking for a four-leaf clover." Shion explained. "I thought I might find one here."

"Why are you looking for something like that?" Kukai asked.

"For a good luck charm." Shion said.

"You still believe in that?" Kukai asked.

"You used to believe in it, too!" Shion pointed out. "It's okay to believe in stuff like this forever!"

"Really?" Kukai said.

"You're not very cute lately." Shion said.

Kukai just grinned in response, then walked a bit closer to the river and looked out at it. Shion began to stare out into the distance as well.

"We haven't been here together in awhile." Kukai said.

"Yeah." Shion said. She looked at the ground. She knew she needed to tell him this. "Kukai, I'm... I'm going to be leaving Toride soon."

"What?" Kukai said, obviously surprised. He turned to look at Shion with shock covering his face.

"I'll be going to a music school where a pianist I respect is an instructor." She explained. "I want to find out how far my sound will take me."

"That's great!" Kukai exclaimed. "It's always been your dream to play the piano."

"Don't say it straight out," Shion said. "it's embarrassing." How?

"But it's true, right?" Kukai said.

"Well, yeah." Shion said.

"Your piano playing will take you as far as you want to go." Kukai said.

"It's not that simple." Shion said disheartedly. "There are lots of people who can play like I do."

"It'll be fine." Kukai assured. "I love listening to you play."

"What?" Shion said.

"What do you mean by 'what'?" Kukai said. "I'm just telling the truth."

"Alright," Shion said as she went back to searching. "Just be quiet."

"What's with you?" Kukai said. "Jeez."

After a few more minutes of searching, Shion fell back on the grass.

"I can't find one." She said.

"Don't give up." Kukai said as he got down on his hands and knees in the grass. "Let me help you."

Shion looked over at him and smiled. Then she rolled on to her side.

"Well then, I'll leave it to you." Shion said.

"Don't go to sleep!" Kukai exclaimed. Shion then began to fake snore, just to add to the effect. "Hey! Wake up, Shion!"

"No, I can't eat anymore." She said to make it seem like she was talking in her sleep.

"That's so unoriginal!" At least she wasn't screaming a dead person's name. That's what I usually do in my sleep.

* * *

"Okay," I said, my words slurring with exhaustion. "How about this one: ' Quel est le travail de l'art, la musique, la science, les mathématiques ou la littérature a influencé votre façon de penser, et de quelle manière?'"

"I think you translated that one into the wrong language." Sarah said.

"Oh, sorry." I said. "'What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has influenced your thinking and in what way?'"

"What do they mean by that?" Sarah asked.

"I have no fucking idea." I said. "Just pick a song and tell me how it makes you feel."

"What song?" Sarah asked.

"Any song!" I snapped.

"I can't think of one!" Sarah snapped back.

"What song is playing on your stereo right now?" I asked.

"Uh..." Sarah said as she got up off the bed and ran to the small stereo system she had on top of the dresser. "It's 'Been to Hell' by Hollywood Undead."

"Okay." I said. "How does that song make you feel?"

"I don't know..." Sarah said. "Tired?"

I let out an exasperated sigh.

"What else does it make you feel? I asked.

"Oh, come on!" Sarah whined. "We've been working on this since Friday night and it's six AM on Sunday. Can I please get twenty minutes of sleep?"

"No." I said. "Not until you give me an idea I can work with."

Sarah shot me a very pissed off glare.

"Hey, do you think I like this?" I said. "I only got a total of eighty-seven minutes of sleep before I came here. Can you just give me an idea so I can write it down, type it up, and get at least twenty minutes of restful sleep?"

"You only got eighty-seven minutes of sleep?" Sarah asked. "That doesn't seem healthy."

"It's not." I said. "But I can deal with it. Now give me something."

Sarah paused for a moment to think. As she did so, there was a knock at the door.

"Oh thank god!" Sarah exclaimed in relief as she walked towards the door.

_Saved by the bell._ I thought to myself.

I don't know what they were talking about, all I know is that Sarah and some guy were talking in a language that wasn't Japanese. While she talked to whoever was at the door, I allowed myself to shut my eyes for a few minutes. I woke up twenty minutes later when Sarah slammed a Red Bull down next to my head.

"Wake up." She said. "I have Dunkin's and Red Bull."

I groaned in response.

"Come on." Sarah said nudging my shoulder. Was it me or did she sound perkier all of a sudden?

"Agh." I said. "Alright, I'm up." I sat up and looked at the bag in Sarah's hand. "Where'd you get the food?"

"Oh." Sarah said. "A friend got it for me."

"Who?" I asked.

"Why do you wanna know?" Sarah asked defensively.

"So that way I can pay them back." I said. She knows how I am with owing people. I'm still trying to give her money for the phones.

"Oh..." Sarah said anxiously. "Uh, it's no one." What, does she not want me to know who it was?

"Are you hiding something?" I asked.

"What?" Sarah said. "No, I'm not hiding anything."

_She's definitely hiding something. This could be good black mail material._

What? Why are you looking at me like that? Okay... Yes, I know Sarah is my friend and yes, I know it's wrong to black mail your friends but you'll never know when it'll come in handy. Also, it's not just Sarah I have black mail on. I have black mail on a lot of people. I have a recording of Ikuto canceling a subscription to a certain website over the phone, absolute proof that the photos from Utau's very first modeling job were photoshopped, and pictures of Tadase wearing women's clothing when he was three.

No one is exempt.

No one is safe.

"If you're not hiding anything," I started. "why won't you tell me who brought the food?"

"Because..." Sarah stopped to think of either a lie or an excuse. "Because the constitution grantees my right to privacy." I'm not sure what I'm more shocked by, the fact that Sarah used the constitution to make a point or that she knew that it grantees your right to privacy. (Doubt she could name the amendment, though.)

"Sarah," I said. "we both know that the fourth amendment went out the door the minute that the NSA started hacking into people's webcams so they could watch them change. Besides, we're in Japan. I doubt it would hold up."

"Why do you wanna know so badly?" Sarah asked.

"Because you're being so defensive." I said.

"I'm not being-"

"Sarah." I said, shooting her the same glare she shot me earlier. Sarah sighed.

"Fine." Sarah said. "I'll tell you." She then sat down and started bunching up the sheets of her bed in her hands. "Ah... Oh, how do I put this? I guess... He's... Kind of... My... Boyfriend?"

"Oh." I said, confused.

_Why would she want to hide something like that? By the way she was acting, you would've thought it was a Cambodian arms dealer or something._ What? It could happen.

"It's just..." Sarah said, still kind of anxious. "He just got back from doing missionary work in Liberia. I haven't seen him in over a month. I just... You can't tell anyone about this!"

"Okay." I said, confused. "Why not?"

"Because we're not really supposed to be dating." Sarah admitted. I just stared at her with a confused look on my face.

_Okay, if they're not supposed to be dating, why are they? Plenty of fish out there. I mean, I get dating someone because you have to or dating someone you shouldn't because you're scared of them, but dating someone you're not supposed to? What... What is that?_

I guess Sarah could see my confusion worsening and probably was getting scared that I was going to question her further.

"You know," Sarah said. "why don't we go back to working on that essay."

I had no choice but to agree.

* * *

"Camera batteries successfully acquired!" Amu said, holding up a small white bag outside of Radio Shack. "The errand for Dad is complete!" Amu's dad had sent her to the mall to run some errands for him. Since the Abiko shopping center was too far away, Amu went to the Toride Mall.

The Mall is really like most other malls. It's four floors and it has kind of a magnifying-glass shape to it. A big circle attached to a small stick. We have the standard mall stores; Macey's, Sears, JC Penny, Bath and Body Works, Aeropostle, Hollister, ect. There are also a few small businesses, places for small children to play, a food court and a movie theater. Nothing really that interesting about it. Unless you count the fact that someone kidnapped a cat from a pet store there two years ago. (I have no idea why someone would wan to kidnap a cat from a pet store. More likely than not, the cat is dead.)

"Amu-chan," Su said as she, Ran and Miki floated up. "since we're already here, let's browse in some of the shops-desu."

"Your dad did give you extra money." Miki said.

"Yeah, he did." Amu said with a sort of devilish glint in her eye.

"Let's go, go!" Ran cheered.

Yay, good to know I'm not the only one with skewed morals.

Amu turned to start walking around the mall, but she stopped as soon as she saw Kukai standing in front of the KB Toys next store. For some reason, he was looking at the little wind-up monkeys with cymbals. When she realized what he was looking at, Amu ran over in shock.

"Are you going to buy that?" Amu asked in disbelief. Kukai, not at all surprised by Amu's sudden outburst, turned around with the trademark Kukai grin on his face.

"Yo, Hinamori." He said in his usual manner.

* * *

"A present for Shion-san?" Amu said. While they had walked through the toy store, she had acquired a stuffed cat and was holding it in her arms.

"Yeah." Kukai said as he looked through a pile of stuffed animals.

"I knew it was love!" Amu said.

"I'm telling you, it's not." Kukai said.

Okay, it was one thing for Yaya and Nadeshiko to be forcing this on Kukai, but now Amu, too? Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you people? He said he didn't like her in that way! He does not want to date her! God, you people are almost as bad as My Chemical Romance shippers.

"But you're looking for a present, right?" Amu asked.

"Well," Kukai said. "it's more of a farewell gift than a birthday present."

"A farewell gift?" Amu repeated. "Even so, something like that's... No good!" She said pointing at the wind-up toy monkey with the drum that Kukai picked up.

"Really?" Kukai asked, apparently not seeing what was wrong with the toy.

"You are so completely clueless!" Amu exclaimed.

* * *

"But that Shion, she's kind of..." Kukai said as he and Amu went down the escalator. "Even though she's going to chase her dream, she doesn't seem motivated."

"Oh, I see." Amu said.

Meanwhile, on the escalator parallel to them, Utau was going up a floor, keeping her head down and trying not to be noticed.

* * *

"Utau," Yukari said once they were in Utau's dressing room. "I didn't announce today's performance. We're going to see how big of an audience you can draw on your own for the sake of our new strategy." And what better place to do that then the Toride Mall. Although it may seem big, it's not. It's a very small space. Also, although enough people shop there to keep the mall afloat, it's still kind of... Sketchy? Not in the sense that reputable businesses are afraid to sell there, just in the sense that we have a lot of teenagers who like to ride their skateboards in there and every year around Christmas time a mall Santa gets arrested for either for urinating on a child or screaming nasty things about Mexicans and Jews. (That's not fun. It's actually heartbreaking to watch the little kids run from him in terror.)

"Strategy, huh?" Utau said.

"Of course," Yukari said. "if we find the Embryo, it's a different story. You're on in thirty minutes. I'm expecting good results, Utau." After that, she left the room, leaving Utau alone. Well, not entirely alone...

I'll definitely get the Embryo for myself. Utau thought as she stared into the mirror. Yes, for Ikuto.

Just then, Utau heard a small, devilish cackle come from her purse. A dark pink egg with a black lace design floated up, out of the bag.

"Who cares about that old broad?" A voice from within the egg said as it popped open. "Let's do what we want, Utau!"

"Yes, Il." Utau said with a small grin.

* * *

"I just can't decide," Kukai said as he and Amu walked around the second floor of the mall. "and you complained about everything!"

"That's because you only picked weird things." Amu said.

"Are you guys shopping together?" A woman's voice said from behind them. Amu and Kukai turned around to see who it was and they saw Shion standing there.

"Shion!" Kukai said, not expecting to see his long-time friend standing behind him.

"So she's the one you're serious about." Shion said with a smile. And just like that, Amu gets flustered.

"N-no," Amu stammered. "I-I'm not! I mean, I was never interested in him in the first place!"

"Hinamori," Kukai said as he sweat dropped. "why are you getting all worked up?" 'Cause she's extremely indecisive.

"Huh?" Amu said.

Shion giggled.

* * *

There is a fifth floor to the Toride Mall. Except for the exact center of the circle - which houses a glass dome - the entire roof is sort of an outdoor eating/picnic area. It's beautiful if you look out on to the side that faces Seiyo Academy, and depressing if you look out on to the side that faces my neighborhood. Although, at times I'd venture to say that side is just as beautiful as the one that faces the school.

Shion stood on the roof, standing behind the railing looking out at the view. Kukai leaned his back against the railing next to her and Amu sat at a nearby table, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. (Mostly because her back was still kind of bothering her.)

"I won't get to see this view anymore." Shion said. "That's rather sad."

"You're racing toward your dream, right?" Kukai said. "Don't be so weak-spirited."

"You know," Shion said. "doubt, uncertainty, and dreams come in a set." Those words brought Kukai back to the night before when he and Shion were looking for clovers. "Well then, I'll get out of your way. You two kids have fun." Shion said as she walked away from the railing and to the stairs that led back into the mall.

Amu noticed Kukai just sat there, staring in the direction Shion walked off to for a minute after she left.

* * *

A familiar tune played throughout the mall, catching nearly all of the patrons attention.

"Hey this song..."

"I think it's Utau chan's."

"Oh, look!" One person shouted and pointed at the stage in the center of the rounded portion of the mall.

"Hoshina Utau!" A bunch of people exclaimed.

Sure enough, Utau was standing in the middle of the stage, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. Dozens of people gathered around to see the local girl-turned-idol.

"Well then," Yukari said as she looked on from backstage. "shall we begin, Utau?"

* * *

"Let's hurry!" A young girl exclaimed as she and her friend ran by Shion. "I heard Utau-chan's here!"

"Utau?" Shion questioned allowed. "Utau Hoshina?"

Shion made her way over to where Utau was putting on her concert. There were a lot of people standing in front of her, but she could clearly see that it was, in fact, Utau Hoshina singing her hit song "Butterfly's Labyrinth" in the mall.

"Wow." She said in amazement.

Sing the lyrics to the song.

Point out to the crowd and suddenly a bunch of people look like they just saw a puppy murdered in front of them.

Continue on like nothing's wrong.

Bang, X-Eggs appear.

Wow, Utau has this down to a science.

* * *

All of a sudden, as they were walking through the mall, Amu and Kukai's Guardian Characters stopped. They could sense something terrible was happening.

"What's wrong, Daichi?" Kukai asked.

"And you guys, too." Amu said to her Guardian Characters.

"I sense the presence of an Egg!" Daichi said.

"Lots of them all of a sudden." Ran added.

"They're giving me a bad feeling." Miki said.

"Could they be X-Eggs?" Amu asked.

Kukai suddenly took off down the hallway, twoards the center of the mall.

"Hinamori, I'll go ahead!" He said as he took off.

"Wait up!" Amu called after him as she began to run down the hall. "You're too fast!"

* * *

By the time Kukai got there, the concert had ended and at least twenty people were sitting on benches and chairs, left completely disheartened after their heart's eggs were taken from them.

"What is this?" Kukai said as he looked around. He caught sight of a young woman sitting on a bench and wearing an orange jacket. "Shion!" He exclaimed. He then ran over to her and shook her shoulders. "Hey, Shion!" Shion's gaze flicked upward for a second.

"Kukai." She said, tonelessly. Outside of that, she was unresponsive.

"Kukai, over there!" Daichi suddenly exclaimed, pointing over at the group of X-Eggs that had gathered overhead.

"X-Eggs." Kukai said. "A ton of them!"

The eggs saw Kukai staring at them and took off to another part of the mall.

"Let's go, Daichi!" Kukai said.

"What about Shion?" Daichi asked.

"We'll come right back." Kukai assured as he took off after the eggs.

* * *

"Amu-chan, over here!" Ran said as she, Miki, and Su led Amu off to an employee's only area.

"R-right." Amu said, a little unsure. "Only authorized personnel are allowed back here." She turned her attention to the hallway to the left of her and locked eyes with the girl who was about to turn the corner.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the idol, Utau Hoshina.

Both girls were silent for a few moments, having immediately recognized each other. Finally, Utau broke the silence.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped.

"Uh, um..." Amu, next time you're wandering around in an area you're not supposed to be in, have some sort of logical excuse for what you're doing.

"Amu-chan, look at that!" Ran exclaimed, pointing at something attached to Utau's belt. Amu looked and saw two Guardian Character Eggs hanging from a chain (How does that work without breaking the egg?) around her belt. One was dark pink with a black lace pattern, the other was light pink with a white lace pattern.

"There are two Guardian Character eggs-desu." Thank you Catherine Obvious.

"But it looks like these two have already..." Miki couldn't finish her sentence before a voice from inside the egg cut her off.

"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah..." The voice said. Then, the egg popped open and the Guardian Character inside burst out.

"Shut up!" Il, the devil Guardian Character, shouted as she popped out.

"A Guardian Character?" No Amu, that's a fish. Dafaq do you think that is?

Il giggled as she floated up next to Utau.

* * *

Kukai and Daichi had chased the X-Eggs into a storage area in the back of Target. They slammed the door behind them as they ran in.

"Alright, they're all locked up!" Daichi said.

"Now you can't get away." Kukai said to the eggs.

"Let's go, Kukai!" Daichi said.

"Yeah!" Kukai said. A star suddenly appeared in Kukai's hair and he and Daichi mysteriously suddenly obtained skate boards.

"Character Change!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

Kukai then began skating/flying around on the skate board, grabbing X-Eggs and stuffing them in an empty sack he found lying around. At one point, Daichi noticed something about one of the eggs.

"That X-Egg smells like Shion." He said, pointing out one of the Eggs floating above their heads.

"What do you mean?" Kukai asked.

"That's definitely Shion's X-Egg!" Daichi said.

"Why did Shion's egg turn into an X-Egg?" Kukai wondered aloud, confused. Then he thought back to what she said earlier.

"You know, doubt, uncertainty, and dreams come in a set."

A determined and protective look crossed Kukai's face.

"I'll definitely protect Shion's dream." He asserted. "Daichi!"

"Right!" Daichi said. They then both charged at the X-Eggs.

* * *

Amu and Utau continued to stand in the middle of the hall, staring at each other.

"Utau," Il said. "those guys are Amu Hinamori's Guardian Characters."

"That's right, Il." Utau said.

Il then floated up to them, seemingly checking each of them out, before coming to a conclusion about them.

"None of them look like they amount to much." Il said, then laughed, much to the outrage of Amu's Guardian Characters.

"This Guardian Character has a pretty sharp tongue." Miki said, sounding like she was trying to hold back the urge to strangle Il.

"So, you're a Character Bearer, too." Amu said. Uh, yeah, that's kind of obvious.

"What of it?" Utau said. "Do you want to say that you're better than me because you have three?"

"No, of course not." Amu said.

"Amu chan," Ran said as she floated up to Amu. "the one we sensed was Il!"

"Oh, well then..." Amu said, before being cut off by Su.

"But there were definitely X-Eggs, too." She said.

"Yeah," Miki said. "We have to hurry and find them."

"You're so stupid." Utau said, to Amu's surprise. "Everyone gives up the Eggs of who they want to be so easily. So to let it upset you and try so hard... Are you stupid?"

"It's not like that," Amu said. "and that's not what I think." Utau wasn't expecting to hear that. "Besides, I decided... I'd fix all the X-Eggs!"

Utau narrowed her eyes.

"Whatever." She scoffed as she began to walk to wherever she was going originally. "We're going, Il."

"Gotcha." Il said as she followed her Bearer.

"Amu-chan, we have to go, too!" Ran said.

"Oh, yeah." Amu said, before taking off in the opposite direction.

* * *

"All right!" Kukai exclaimed as he caught another X-Egg.

"Hey, quit struggling!" Daichi said as he caught one. They threw the two X-Eggs in the sack before turning to look at how many X-Eggs they had left to catch.

"Just a few more." Kukai said as he looked up at the six eggs floating above their heads.

"Yeah," Daichi said. "We just have to hold out a little longer." Just then they heard the storage room door open and shut quickly. They turned around to see who it was and they saw a certain pink-haired girl leaning against the door, trying to catch her breath.

"Hinamori!" Kukai said.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting." Amu said. "Miki, let's go."

"Okay!"

"My Own Heart!" Amu said. "Unlock!" And with that, she transformed into Amulet Spade.

"Amu-chan," Miki said. "gather all the X-Eggs in one spot."

"Okay!" Amu said. She then jumped up into the air, charging at the X-Eggs.

"I'm counting on you, Hinamori!" Kukai said, cheering her on.

Amu summoned her giant paint brush and used Colorful Canvas on the eggs, forcing them all to go to one spot in the storage room. One tried to escape, but Ran and Su blocked it's path.

"This is a dead end!" Ran said.

"Please go back the other way-desu." Su said.

"Hinamori," Kukai said. "take care of these, too!" He threw the X-Eggs he and Daichi had collected into the little huddle the ones Amu had cornered were in.

"You got it!" Amu said. She did Colorful Canvas again, just to make sure that she had gotten them all together. Then she used Open Heart to purify them. The X's slowly faded off of the eggs and they slowly changed from black to white. Although she was out of breath, Amu smiled at the sight.

"That's our Joker!" Kukai said, putting his hand on Amu's shoulder. "You're good!"

"It was a little tiring, though." Amu said.

The eggs then flew off to go back to their rightful owners.

* * *

Amu and Shion stood at the platform of Toride Station. It was Monday morning and Amu had asked Kukai if she could go with him to see Shion off.

"Don't you have class?" Kukai had asked.

"All we're really doing is watching Pawn Stars re-runs on the History Channel." Amu had said. "I don't think I'll be missing much."

Well, Amu had gone to the station with Kukai, but he said he forgoten to get Shion a gift and went off to find one. Now, they only had a few minutes until Shion's train left and Kukai hadn't come back.

"Jeez," Amu said. "what's Kukai doing? To be late now of all times!"

"Maybe he had trouble finding a farewell gift." Ran suggested.

"That must be it-desu." Su said.

"Good grief." Miki said.

A sound signaling that the train would be departing in a few minutes rang throughout the station.

"I have to go." Shion said.

"What?" Amu said.

"Thanks for coming." Shion said with a smile as she turned to step onto the train.

"But..." Amu said.

"Shion!" A boy's voice called out from the other end of the platform. Amu and Shion turned and saw Kukai running over to them. He stopped in front of them and caught his breath. "Sorry I'm late." He said, pulling something out of his pocket. "Here." He said, holding out the four-leaf clover. Shion stared at him with a look of disbelief.

"Kukai." She said.

"A farewell gift and a birthday present!" Kukai said.

"He was looking for a four-leaf clover." Ran said.

"We had a really hard time finding one." Daichi said and he was telling the honest truth. They weren't able to find one by the river bank and they were about to give up when a Black Leprechaun named O'Shamus McPherson showed up and offered him a four-leaf clover in exchange for his first-born son. I'm not even shitting you on that. That really did happen. Why didn't he freak out or call the cops or a scientist? That's because he was using the logic that Guardian Characters exist, so why not Leprechauns? Yeah. You're gonna have to use that logic in a lot of situations here because this is not the strangest thing that has happened.

"It's a good luck charm that should take care of your doubts and uncertainties." Kukai explained to Shion as she took the tiny (Probably cursed, if I know Leprechauns.) plant in her hand.

"Yeah." Shion said, honestly touched by Kukai's gift.

"Nobody knows how far you can go." Kukai said. "But that's what makes it exciting, right? After all, doesn't it mean that you can go as far as you want?"

"Right." Shion said, touched by her long-time friend's words. She then pulled him into a tight embrace, catching Daichi by suprise and causing Amu's Guardian Characters to go into a slight fangirl mode. "Thanks." She whispered in his ear. She then boarded her train, leaving Kukai standing there in shock as it pulled away.

"Well, she's gone." Amu said. Then she caught sight of Kukai's face. He was completely spaced out.

"K-Kukai, what's wrong?" Daichi asked in a panic. He had never seen Kukai like this.

"Could it have been love after all?" Amu questioned.

"Huh?" Kukai said as he snapped back to reality.

"He's back!" Daichi said with relief.

"Yeah, maybe." Kukai said in response to Amu's question with his usual grin as he looked up at the sky. Amu smiled.

Okay, he had me fooled.

"Hinamori," Kukai said. "it's been awhile, so let's do that."

"Do what?" Amu asked.

"Running dash!" Kukai said as he grabbed Amu's arm.

"Huh? Wait hold on!" Too late, he had already taken off. "Why'd it turn out like this?" Amu yelled as Kukai dragged her along.

* * *

After that, Shion was never seen, heard of, or mentioned again. What? I said the four-leaf clover was probably cursed. Leprechauns like to pull shit like that. They're mischievous little buggers. That's why I refuse to set foot in Ireland.

Shion's last thought came to her as she sat on the train, staring at the four-leaf clover Kukai had given her.

_That guy. He's going to be a good one._

* * *

When I opened my eyes, soft rays of sunlight were illuminating the side of the red pencil cup next to me. It didn't register in my brain that it was morning. I don't think that it even registered that I had fallen asleep. All my brain could take notice of was how pretty that pencil cup looked in the sunlight.

After about twenty minutes or so of staring at that pencil cup, I heard Sarah string from her spot on the bed. She must have passed out shortly after I did. I heard her get up, stretch and walk to her dresser. Then, I heard a muffled scream. Seconds later Sarah was shaking my shoulders, screaming in my ear.

"Get up! Get up!" She shouted. "I have English in twenty minutes."

"Huh?" I said as I lifted my head up off the desk. "Wha? What's going on?"

"I have Twenty minutes to get to class!" Sarah shouted in a panic. "Did you finish the essay?"

"Finish?" I said. "I didn't even start it. Remember? You wouldn't give me an idea."

"Shit!" Sarah cursed. "What am I going to do?"

"Well," I said. "unless you wanna give your teacher a stick figure drawing of me stabbing Jenny McCarthy in the face, you're screwed."

"Damn it!" Sarah said. "You're right, I am so fucking screwed!"

I put my head in my hands and took a deep breath.

Damn it. I thought. I need to think of something, fast.

"Okay," I said, once I came up with something. "you go get ready for class, I'll just jot something down quickly."

"What?" Sarah said. "You can't do that! It has to be typed!"

"We don't have time." I said. "It'll be fine, just go."

"Okay." Sarah said before grabbing her school uniform and taking off towards the girl's bathroom, presumably to take a quick shower before class.

I began writing things down absent-mindedly, internally berating myself for not realizing that this would happen three days ago. When Sarah came back, I gave her what I wrote down and she bolted to class. I passed out on her spare bed moments after.

* * *

A few hours later, I was once again woken up by Sarah shaking my shoulders.

"Wake up." She said.

"Mm?" I said, in a sleep-educed haze. "Did some drunk creep wander into the house again, Utau?"

"What?" Sarah said. "No. And I'm not Utau, I'm Sarah."

"Oh." I said. "Wait, what are you doing in my house?"

"I'm not at your house." Sarah said. "You're in my dorm room, now get up."

"Ah." I said, forcing myself to sit up. "Okay, I'm up, I'm up. Now, what is it?"

Sarah then threw her arms around me in a hug.

"Thank you!" Sarah said. "I can never repay you for this!"

"Repay me for what?" I said in confusion as Sarah pulled back from the hug.

"I got a perfect score on the essay!" Sarah said with an extreme amount of excitement, gratefulness, and relief in her voice.

"What?" I said in disbelief. "You got an A Plus?"

"Yeah!" Sarah exclaimed. "Can you believe it? The teacher said that it was an amazing story that touches upon themes of alienation, the transition between adolescence and adulthood, and the struggle to find ones own identity."

"What?" I said. "Let me see that." I took the paper out of her hands and scanned the first few lines. I immediately recognized the words on the page as I had read them many times before. "Holy crap, this is Catcher in the Rye."

"What?" Sarah said.

"I think I wrote a few pages from Catcher in the Rye." I said. "'It was that kind of a crazy afternoon, terrifically cold, and no sun out or anything...' Yeah, this is definitely Catcher in the Rye."

"Is that a bad thing?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, it is." I said. "If they catch us, they'll take us to jail for plagiarism."

"Oh." Sarah said, her look changing from excitement to worry. "So what do we do?"

"Pray that your teacher is a moron." I said as I collapsed back on to the bed. I laid there with my eyes closed for a few seconds, before a thought struck me.

"Wait, did you say that your boyfriend just came back from Liberia?"

* * *

**If anyone is planning on doing a stage production of a student film made by the now famous creators of a well-known TV show, please state that it's a STAGE PRODUCTION clearly in the video's title! Thank you. XO**

**Well, this update is up a lot sooner than the last one. Yeah. I'm still sorry about that. I'm also sorry that the Blogspot looks like shit right now. The blogger dashboard is acting kind of buggy. I can't help it. Plus, it doesn't seem like Kingsoft Writer isn't compatible with many websites... T-T**

**Most of what Sarah and Marceline were doing in this chapter was based on real life events. I mean, I didn't have someone write my college essay for me, but I did have to write one even though I don't plan on going to college. God damn it, I hate English! Oh, and I also didn't give my teacher a copy of _Catcher in the Rye _as my essay. I'd be in jail right now if I did. :/**

**Well, I think that about covers it... Remember kids, don't trust Leprechauns. **

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 10/10/14.**


	25. Staring at Them to Let Me In

***Panting, out of breath* I... I finished...! H-huzzah! *Passes Out***

**"Two-faced Lovers" by Wowaka Featuring Miku Hatsune**

* * *

"Bueno, acaba de obtener la niña a firmar aquí, aquí y aquí," The Honduran lawyer said as he marked off places to sign. "y usted debe ser bueno para ir." Logan just blankly stared at him.

"He wants you to get whoever you're getting to sign this to sign where he marked." Miku explained.

"Oh." Logan said. "Great."

"Gran?" Gutiérrez asked, just to make sure Logan was satisfied.

"Gran." Miku confirmed.

"Bueno, eso debe tener cuidado de él." Gutiérrez said as he began to pack up his stuff. " Un placer hacer negocios con usted señor Huntzberger y usted, señorita Hatsune."

"No, el placer fue nuestro, señor Gutiérrez." Miku said, standing up from her seat and extending her hand for him to shake it. Logan just sat there, dumbfounded. Holy fuck, he can't even pick up on social cues? What does he have? Aspergers?

When she realized he wasn't getting up, Miku slammed her stiletto heals down as hard as she could on his foot.

"I think Gutiérrez-san wants you to shake his hand." Miku said.

"Oh." Logan said as he stood up and extended his hand. "Sorry."

" No hay problema." Gutiérrez said as he shook Logan's hand. "Tengo que irme ahora si yo no quiero perder mi vuelo."

"Está bien." Miku said. "Una vez más, fue un placer hacer negocios con usted y le damos las gracias por sus servicios."

"Ah, no había ningún problema." Gutiérrez said. "Soy probablemente el peor abogado en todos Tegucigalpa, así que es bueno tener un poco de negocio real para un cambio. Especialmente un caso que me lleva algún lugar tan hermoso como Japón. Bueno, mejor estar fuera ahora. ¡Adiós!"

Miku just stood there with a shocked look on her face as she watched the man get in the elevator across the hall and disappear behind the sliding doors.

"Okay," Logan said as he walked out of the room. "I'm going to call the bomb squad just in case you were wrong and that guy was Iraqi or Syrian or whatever." She didn't even flinch at Logan's completely racist comment.

_What the hell is going on?_ She thought.

* * *

"What the hell was that?"

Yeah, I am kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I was walking around my room in only a towel looking for my hairdryer while singing "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira. (What? Is it wrong to feel good after a shower?) While I was looking around, I saw a bright flash coming from outside the window. Obviously, that grabbed my attention.

"Are there cops out there?" I wondered as I walked to the window. I looked straight out it and saw the flash again. It didn't look like a police light that I saw flashing, but I couldn't be sure. "Son of a bitch." I muttered to myself. I stepped away from the window and threw on a shirt and pants. Then I grabbed my bow and arrows (Just to be safe.) and bounded out of my room, down the stairs, into the kitchen and out the door into the back yard. I stood out there for a minute, listening for sirens. When I was met with the sound of silence I began walking around, looking to see if I could see the flash again. It wasn't long before Ikuto joined me out there.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked as he walked out into the yard.

"I saw a flash." I explained. "I thought it might be the cops."

"So you ran outside with sopping wet hair and no shoes in the first week of March?" He asked.

"Oh." I said, common sense hitting me hard on the head. "Yeah, should've thought about that first."

"Yeah," He said. "You should've."

"But I swear to god, I saw flashing lights." I said, futilely trying to stretch my body to see around the large, cement fence that surrounded our house.

"It was probably just some kids playing around with flashlights." Ikuto said. "Now will you come inside? It's freezing." I gave one last general look around our house's vicinity.

"Fine." I said and headed back inside.

* * *

"Hey, hey," Manami said. "Have you heard the rumors?"

"Sure have!" Wakana said. "About the dream thief, right?"

"I heard about that, too!" An unimportant girl from Amu's class said.

"Me, too." Another unimportant girl said.

"Like how it steals the dreams of children?" Manami said.

"Yep, yep." One of the two unimportant girls said.

"The kids lose consciousness after it happens." The other unimportant girl said.

"And they're still in a daze when they come to." Wakana added.

"The dream thief..." Minami and Wakana said in sync.

"Sca-ry!" All four girls said, laughing.

Wow. I never thought I'd say this, but... I think I actually found a scary story/urban legend **worse** than _Squidward's Suicide_. I mean seriously, a guy who goes around stealing kid's dreams does not sound that scary to me. I mean, you're not gonna die if you lose your dreams. Well, granted, you could become depressed enough to commit suicide but it's not gonna kill you on the spot. What's scary to me then? Well, _Nightmare on Elm Street_ did scare the crap out of me pretty good. So, I guess a guy **coming into your dreams and killing you** is scary. Also, _The Strangers _was pretty fucking terrifying, so home invasions...

Lucky for me, the girls were interrupted by a very refined/annoying laugh and were forced to stop their little scary story/urban legend sharing time. Unluckily for me, that laugh belonged to the self-proclaimed most beautiful and popular girl at Seiyo Academy Elementary, Sayaa Yamabuki. She stood there with her four friends flanking her on both sides and a smug "I'm-better-than-you-'cause-my-daddy's-rich" smile on her face.

"I, Sayaa Yamabuki, do not fear such trifling things." She said.

"That's how the great Sayaa does it!" Her four friends simultaneously chimed in.

Sayaa then pulled out a large black can with flames on it and held it up high for all to see. Wait, that can't be...

"My father bought me this Habanero Spray!" Oh fuck it is. Habanero Spray is a really expensive name-brand self-defense spray. It's also really dangerous. One spritz is enough to permanently blind someone for life. A lot of rich people use it as means to defend themselves against "criminals" like me. The few times I've been sprayed with it, I've had the wherewithal to cover my eyes. Even then it caused my eyes to water uncontrollably for several hours, left a burning sensation in my nose and throat for days, and my clothes smelling like god-knows-what for months. Jesus Christ, her father has to be a complete idiot to let his ten-or-eleven year old daughter carry that shit around. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. If there's a father out there dumb enough to allow his nine year old daughter handle an Uzi, then there's obviously one out there dumb enough to let his daughter carry around Habanero Spray.

Oh, and if that wasn't bad enough. After showing it off, Sayaa actually fucking sprayed it at them! Granted, she didn't point it directly in their faces, she aimed the can at the ground next to them, but it still caused coughing fits and uncontrollable eye watering. Fuck, someone get a school official! I know it's against school policy to bring weapons on to the property! They've given me enough shit over the years for cutting through the schoolyard with my bow and arrows to make it very clear to me that they have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to weapons! There's no way that doesn't qualify as a weapon! Get a teacher! Do something! Unfortunately, at Seiyo Academy Elementary it's an unspoken school policy that you don't do anything but stand there and gawk while someone uses a weapon against someone else. (That's probably why so many kids died in the school shooting.) So, my after the fact yelling probably won't do anything.

I think the most horrible thing about this whole situation is that Sayaa had put on a gas mask (Where did she pull that out from?) before spraying the spray. Meaning she was unaffected by it while her friends and those four other girls suffered. FUCK! HOW DOES SOMEONE... ARGH!

You spoiled... Little... Rich... Brat... You're lucky I don't know where you live, otherwise I would come to your house and spray you with that fucking Habanero Spray.

Take a deep breath, Marceline. There's nothing you can do about it now. It's in the past. C'est la vie. The point is moot. Now just calm down...

"Well are you sure about that?" A boy's voice (That was apparently unaffected by the toxic spray.) asked. The voice caught Sayaa's attention and she took off her gas mask to look at the boy, who it turns out was Amu's fanboy.

"And what business might you have here?" Sayaa asked.

"Please ignore me." Seiichiro said. "I'm merely a Hinamori fan passing through. But the way I see it, the villain attacking children must be... An alien!"

"Alien?" The girls repeated. (Some of them through coughing fits.)

...

"Habanero Spray won't have any effect on aliens." Seiichiro explained. "Only one person can oppose them. The legendary grade schooler... Humanity's greatest heroine... Our one and only Amu Hinamori-senpai!"

...

Okay, Guardian Characters I'm willing to admit exist. Leprechauns I'm willing to admit exist. Whatever the fuck I am I'm willing to admit exists, but fucking aliens? Yes, I know the universe is a vast place and we have yet to explore it. I do believe there is life outside of our galaxy. It's nearly impossible for this planet to be a one-time fluke, but why the fuck would any alien be interested in our planet? Never mind the dreams of our children. If I were an alien, I'd stay as far the fuck away from this planet as I possibly could. I mean, we were dumb enough to make nuclear weapons that could destroy our planet four times over. It'd basically be suicide for any alien to come into contact with us.

Well, regardless, this theory was enough to piss off Sayaa because she began strangling the boy.

"Are you saying my Habanero Spray is inferior to Hinamori-san?!" Sayaa shouted.

"Save me, Hinamori-senpai!" Seiichiro screamed.

Uh, is anyone gonna get a teacher? I mean, you have eight girls who are suffering from the effects of Habanero Spray and one student strangling another. If there was ever a time to get a teacher, it would be now.

Kukai, who was listening in on the conversation the girls and Seiichiro were having (Dafaq? He had to recognized that what's going on was dangerous! Why didn't he get a teacher?) turned to Amu, Yaya, Nadeshiko and Tadase, who were standing nearby.

"Some strange rumors have been flying around lately." He said.

"A dream thief, huh?" Tadase said.

"It couldn't be..." Nadeshiko said.

"What is it?" Yaya asked. "What do you mean?"

"Isn't this Nikaidou's doing?" Kukai asked. "You guys feel the same way, right?" Amu and Yaya gasped in shock.

"You mean," Amu said. "even though he left our school, he's still putting X's on people's eggs?" What? You thought he'd just stop because he wasn't working in a school anymore? There are thousands of kids who could easily become disheartened in this city alone.

"Perhaps." That's an understatement, Nadeshiko.

"In any case," Tadase said. "we have to be careful. Extra careful."

"Right." Yaya said.

"Yeah." Kukai agreed.

Amu just stood there with a look of concern and worry.

_Nikaidou_. She thought. _Where are you right now?_

* * *

Nikaidou dropped the last X-Egg into his machine.

"This should be enough X-Eggs." He said. "The Embryo will soon be completed. Once I prepare a special egg for the transformation, I'm sure..."

* * *

"Sorry about this, Amu-chan." Her father said. "We didn't mean to make you watch the house on a Sunday." Both of her parents were dressed in very nice clothes. Her father, wearing a tan suit with an orange shirt and her mother wearing an orange dress and her hair pinned up in some intricate bun.

"It's fine." Amu assured.

"Your grandmother suddenly told us that she'd sent crabs through refrigerated delivery." Her mother explained. "They should arrive around noon, so make sure you receive the package for us."

"Okay." Amu said. "Anyway, you should get going or you'll be late for the party."

"You're right." Amu's mother said with a smile.

"Ami-chan," Her father called to her younger sister. "we're off!"

Ami then came running out of the living room in a fairy outfit, spinning and jumping around.

"North wind woosh!" Ami said. "North wind woosh!" She then winked and struck a pose. Her parents stood there with bright smiles on their faces, sparkles surrounding them, completely awestruck at their youngest daughter's performance.

"Little Fairy of the North Wind spotted!" Amu's father exclaimed. "Photogenic time!" He then snapped several pictures of his daughter in various poses. "You're awesome, Little Fairy! Little Fairy, please make the wind blow!" Ami then took a deep breath and blew as hard as she could at her father. (Wow, that sentence seems like it would be so dirty if taken out of context.) "So strong! What a strong wind, Little Fairy!"

"Lovely!" Amu's mother cried out.

"Come, come!" Amu's dad said. "Amu-chan, come get in the picture!"

"You're gonna be late." Amu said, clearly not wanting to embarrass herself by posing with them.

* * *

"See you later!" Amu's parents called as they pulled away.

"Bye-bye!" Ami said cheerfully.

Amu continued to wave with a worn-out expression as they turned the corner.

"Have a safe trip-desu!" Su called out.

"Finally," Amu said, putting her hand down. "some peace and quiet."

Ran, Miki, and Su giggled.

* * *

"Okay." Amu said, sitting down on her bed. "What to do?"

"Amu-chan," Su said as she floated up to Amu. "are you sure about this-desu?"

"What do you mean?" Amu asked.

"Weren't you looking forward to going to that big clothing sale down at the mall today-desu?" Su asked.

"It couldn't be helped." Amu said. "Ami practiced really hard. I'd feel bad if Mom couldn't go to the party. Besides, I can go shopping whenever I want."

"You're such a good girl, Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed.

"Yeah, way to be the big sister!" Miki said.

"Pretty much." Amu said (A little too smugly in my opinion.).

"I'm so touched." Su said. "I'm so impressed. Especially since the sale ends today-desu."

"It does?" Amu said, surprised at that information. Ha, ha. Not so smug now, are we, honey?

"That reminds me..." Miki said. "They mention that the first hundred people would get an original pouch as a gift."

"They did?" Amu said with regret and probably some greed in her voice.

"And you get double points when you buy stuff!" Ran added. Double points on what? Your Discover Card? Store credit? What?

"And you can double your chance at winning with a scratch card!" Miki said. Winning what? A car? A house? A boat? A slave? World peace? Specify or I'm gonna start thinking that this is a scam. To be honest, though, I wouldn't put it past the Toride Mall to run a scam like that in order to get people into the doors. They once stole an idea from _South Park_ and posted on Facebook that Beyoncé and Tom Hanks were getting married inside the Red Robin.

"And yet," Su said. "you sacrificed shopping all for Ami-chan. How mature-desu."

And that was the nail in the coffin. Amu fell to the floor, apparently having passed out from having missed such an opportunity.

"Amu-chan." Ran said.

"Are you alive-desu?" Su asked.

Then Amu's soul slowly started slithering out of her mouth.

"I'm just fine." The spirit responded as it began to float away. "I'm totally okay." Then Amu's Guardian Characters freaked out and began chasing it.

"O-Oh no!" Miki shouted amid the crashing that they were causing. "Amu-chan's soul!"

"Su, it went over there!" Ran shouted. Su screamed as she tried to catch it.

"Sale..." Amu's soul sighed.

* * *

By the time the delivery truck arrived, Ran, Miki, and Su had managed to get Amu's soul back inside her and she accepted the delivery without a problem. Amu set the package down in the kitchen. Miki pressed her ear against it, for some odd reason...

"The crabs moved." Miki said.

"Really?" Ran said.

Wait, Amu's grandmother sent **live** crabs in the mail? Is that even legal? Can someone do that? I don't know! I can't eat crabs without being sent to the emergency room and I've never had the desire to own them as pets, so I wouldn't know.

Amu, meanwhile, was lying down on the couch. Although I'm sure her back has pretty much healed at this point, it probably was a little sore from lifting the box into the kitchen. Plus, she was already upset over the fact that she missed the sale, so that probably wasn't helping.

"Amu-chan." Su floated up and said. "Don't be so disappointed. Have some hot chocolate and cheer up-desu." She then floated over to the kitchen table to show Amu a nice, steaming up of hot chocolate waiting there for her.

"Whoa, it looks yummy!" Ran exclaimed.

"Smells good!" Miki said.

"I made enough for everyone-desu." Su said.

"Really? Really?" Ran said.

"That's our Su!" Miki said.

"Please," Su said. "it's not a big deal-desu."

Amu walked over to the table and sat down as Su was passing out tiny cups of Hot Chocolate to Ran and Miki.

"Whoa," Ran exclaimed. "these cups are from Ami-chan's dollhouse!"

"Correct-desu!" Su said.

"Yep," Miki said "nice size!"

"Ah!" Ran exclaimed as a tiny (from a human's perspective) drop of hot, dark brown liquid on the corner of her dress.

"Oh, jeez." Miki said as she put down her own cup of hot chocolate. "Hold on a sec. I'll go grab a tissue." She said as she floated off into the kitchen.

"Now I've done it." Ran said with an awkward laugh as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Haste makes waste-desu." Su said.

Amu looked on with a slight smile.

_That's right... _She thought. _I used to really hate watching the house. When I was little, I'd be scared that ghosts might pop out at me. Even when I got older, I got bored being all by myself. But now..._ Wait, your parents left you alone in the house when you were little? You know what, I'd chastise them if my parents (more specifically, my mother) didn't take that a step further on multiple occasions.

"What's wrong?" Ran asked a smiling Amu.

"N-nothing!" She said, immediately wiping the grin off her face and turning so she faced away from her Guardian Characters.

"Amu-chan wasp probably thinking about how much fun it is to watch the house with us-desu!" Wow, you hit the nail right on the head, Su.

"A-As if!" Amu said. "In fact, I'm all sad because I never get any quiet time anymore."

Su then looked so heartbroken that she might cry. She couldn't believe that those words just came out of Amu's mouth. Hey, Su, you've been living with Amu for nearly six months now. You should be able to tell at this point when her outer character is doing the talking.

She didn't have time to dwell on it, though, because not even a few seconds later Ran popped off of the table and into the air.

"Amu-chan!" She exclaimed in panic. "It's terrible, just awful." Amu turned to see what had gotten Ran into such a panic and saw the crab, outside of it's box, and holding Miki's bag in between it's pincers, with Miki still attached to it.

"A-Amu-chan!" Miki exclaimed in fear. "S-save me!"

"What do we do? What do we do?" Well, Ran seems to have fallen into a complete and utter state of panic. Same goes for Su, who could do nothing but scream. Amu was initially frozen in place with fear, but then found the courage to do something about the situation.

"Calm down, everyone!" Amu said. The fact that Amu sprung to action seemed to immediately calm Ran and Su down. "Let's go!"

"Okay." Ran and Su said simultaneously.

Wait, you're not just gonna jump in without a plan, are you? I mean, granted, it's just a crab. I could take it out easily with an arrow, but Amu has no training with any sort of weapon and I've heard that some of those things are strong enough to take a person's finger off. In her position, it'd be a little stupid not to think things through before taking action.

Luckily for Amu, fear took over before she could reach out to Miki. The crab turned and snapped it's free pincer at her, causing Amu, Ran, and Su to back into the wall.

And then... There was a Big-lipped Alligator Moment.

For those of you unfamiliar, the term Big-lipped Alligator Moment was first coined by the Nostalgia Chick in a duo review of the film _Ferngully _with the Nostalgia Critic. A Big-lipped alligator moment refers to the "big-lipped alligator scene" from _All Dogs Go to Heaven_. In the scene, a big-lipped alligator sings a random musical number. It comes right the fuck out of nowhere and has no bearing whatsoever on the plot. It's way over the top in ridiculousness (even within the context of the movie), and after it happens, no one ever speaks of it again.

Apparently, these kinds of things happen in real life. Something ridiculous and strange happens and once it's over, no one ever speaks of it again. Though, I've experienced them mostly in the form hallucinations, but then again those aren't supposed to make sense, anyways. Amu, Ran, and Su, however, have managed to make one happen in real life.

The setting changed from Amu's kitchen to the streets of a city. Miki still remained in the crab's pincers, while Ran - now dressed as a reporter - stood in the foreground of the emergency situation.

"I am reporting live from the scene." Ran said. "It appears that the fugitive crab has taken the Guardian Character Miki hostage!"

"I-I don't think this is the time to be playing around!" Miki screamed as she struggled to get her bag out of the crab's grip. "H-Hurry up!"

Meanwhile, Amu and Su stood in some sort of command center, wearing matching orange jump suits and white helmets with a single orange stripe going down the center. They watched on a giant screen as Miki struggled to get free from the crab's grip.

"Chief!" Su said to Amu. "Give us your orders-desu!"

"Um..." Amu said, holding up her arms defensively. "B-But it's..." The crab once again snapped it's free pincer at her. "Impossible!" They snapped back to reality again as they slammed into the wall.

"Seriously?" Was Miki's only response to what just happened.

* * *

"What?" Nikaidou said into his cell phone as he walked through the aisles of the bookstore. "Right now? I'm rather busy looking for research materials." He paused for a second as the voice on the other end said something. "Okay, okay. Just let me handle it. The day I'll be able to present the Embryo to Gozen is near at hand. If you'll excuse me." And with that he hung up.

_Yes. _He thought. _Very near. The Embryo is nearly complete. That makes me the winner. Climbing to the top of Easter is no mere dream._

"Wow! That's cool!" The exclamation of a young boy broke Nikaidou out of his thoughts. He looked over and saw a boy, somewhere between the ages of eight and eleven looking through some book.

_Your egg is in plain sight. _He thought as he locked his eyes on his new target. _Sorry, but I'll be taking it._ He then walked over to the boy, putting on his ditsy teacher smile as he did so.

"Hey kid." He said as he leaned over the child. (Where are this kid's parents?)

"I get it!" The kid exclaimed. "This stabilizer helps maintain it's balance." That made Nikaidou take a step back. Upon closer examination of the book that was in the kid's hands, he could easily see that it was a book on robotics. For some reason, this combined with the kid's enthusiasm for the topic, threw Nikaidou into some sort of a shock and he just walked away, leaving the kid and his heart's egg behind.

Not even ten seconds later, a woman who looked similar to the boy rushed over to him.

"Nobuyuki," She said. "who was that?"

"Who was who, mom" The boy asked.

"That man who was leaning over you." She clarified. "Who was he?"

"There was someone there?" He said, puzzled.

"Oh, sweetie." She said. "You have to be more aware of your surroundings! Otherwise you're going to be molested again! Now come on, we're leaving."

"But I wanna get this book!" The boy protested.

"I'll order it for you on Amazon." She said. "I just don't feel safe with you here, let's go!"

I'm not sure whether I should praise that mother for actually caring about her son enough to come to his aid, or chastise her for letting him get molested in the first place.

* * *

Nikaidou walked down the streets of Abiko with a sad expression on his face. An image of himself as a child putting a robot together flashed through his mind, changing his expression from one of sadness to one of anger. However, that quickly melted away as he caught sight of a familiar pink-haired girl trying to navigate her way through the crowd.

_Amu Hinamori_. He thought.

* * *

"I'm pretty sure it's around here." Amu said, checking the name she had scrawled on her paper against the names on the signs on the buildings. "Ah, over there!" She said once she found a restaurant with a matching name. She ran up to the window and looked inside at the people inside sharing idle chit-chat and eating their meals.

"Wow, what a fancy restaurant-desu!" Su commented as she peaked out of Amu's pouch.

"It doesn't look like they're here yet." Ran said as she peeked out as well.

"I can't wait to taste high class French cuisine!" Amu said excitedly. Her parents had offered to take Amu out to dinner as sort of a thank you for watching the house. I would have no problem with this, if they weren't taking her to Fancy!, a restaurant known for charging an upwards of five-hundred thousand yen per meal. Forget the fact that the crab got out of the box for a second, do you really think that accepting a FedEx delivery is really deserving of this sort of reward?

"Amu-chan, let's wait inside." Ran suggested.

"You're right." Amu said. She glanced down at her pouch and then realized something. "But hold on. Miki... Are you still upset?" She opened up the pouch to reveal that Miki had retreated into her egg. She poked her head out for one second, before hmphing and slamming the egg shut. "Come on, we saved you, so it worked out in the end."

"No it did not!" Miki snapped from within her egg. "You do not call that working out!"

Apparently, in order to save Miki, Amu had devised a plan which involved finding a stick and using that to reach out to Miki from a safe distance. However, the only stick they could find was the toilet plunger. To make things worse, Amu offered Miki the side with the plunger on it. Miki was not happy about it, to say the least.

"We didn't have a choice." Amu said. "That was the only stick we could find nearby."

"It wasn't beautiful!" Miki snapped. "You've hurt my sense of style!"

"Just get over it already-desu." Su said.

"Cheer up, okay?" Ran said.

"Honestly." Miki said. "We're always helping Amu-chan out, but the second we're in trouble, she abandons us like it's nothing. As far as Amu-chan's concerned, we're nothing more than toilet plungers!"

Amu honestly couldn't take anymore of Miki's bitching and slammed the pouch shut.

"Stubborn!" Amu said in retaliation.

"Let me out!" Miki shouted. "I object to the abuse of Guardian Characters! I'll sue you the second I'm out of here! Lemme out!"

"Another pointless fight-desu." Su remarked.

"Don't worry." Ran said. "Amu-chan isn't a petty girl."

* * *

"Understood." The attendant in charge of the bag room at the restaurant said as Amu handed him her pouch. "I will take good care of your belongings."

"Petty!" All three of her Guardian Characters cried out as the attendant took them into the back room. Amu stuck her tongue out at them, before finding a seat in the waiting area.

_I'm in luck_. Nikaidou thought as he watched this all unfold from the restaurant window. _It appears that I'll be able to obtain a special egg with miraculous timing. _

* * *

"Scawy!" Ami cried at the sight of the dead animal on the table. "Lobster scawy!"

"You mean, 'that lobster is scary'." Amu's mother corrected.

"Beat it up, Sis!" Ami commanded her big sister. Everyone was a bit surprised when Amu didn't say anything comforting to her younger sister in response. Instead, she just store at the food in front of her with a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Her father asked. Amu snapped back to reality.

"N-nothing." She said before standing up. "Sorry, I'll be right back." She said as she took off towards the front of the restaurant.

"What's with her all of a sudden?" Amu's father wondered aloud.

"It's rude to ask that of a lady." Amu's mother said. "The restroom."

"Oh, I get it." Amu's dad said.

"She always takes forever in there." Ami said. Oh, what I would give to be able to say things socially unacceptable without getting any backlash like that.

* * *

Amu tapped her fingers on the desk as she waited for the attendant to come back.

_I feel sort of bad about what I did_. Amu thought.

"Sorry for the wait." The attendant said as he returned to the desk with Amu's red plaid pouch. "This was the item, correct?"

"Ah, yes." Amu said. "Thank you." She took the pouch from the attendant and began to open it.

_I hope they aren't angry_.

When she opened the bag, though, she was shocked to find it was completely empty.

"U-um..." Amu said to the attendant. "The stuff that was inside..." As she was saying that, the idea that all three of them sneaking out of their eggs and running off crossed her mind. "Those idiots." Amu said, so angry that she could burst into flames.

"I-is there some sort of problem?" The attendant asked in confusion. Amu didn't offer any explanation as she moved over to the threshold of the dining room. Hiding behind some sort of patrician, she looked over at her family. They didn't seem like they were getting worried about her just yet, so she decided she'd be fine to go outside and look for a few minutes. She then turned and ran out of the restaurant in search of her Guardian Characters.

* * *

Mi &amp; sum freindz r goin 2 a sushi bar wanna cum

That was the text I got from Sarah. To be honest, I didn't want to go at first but Sarah told me that the restaurant served alcohol and that convinced me. Although I may not be able to eat anything there, I might as well get drunk off my ass and forget all my problems.

I walked down the streets of Abiko in my nicest clothes: a decent pair of brown pants I found at Savers that didn't have any stains or holes in them, a white button down shirt that was also found at Savers and was fortunate enough not to suffer any stains or tears, an olive green jacket that I stole from Utau's closet, and a pair of soft brown leather boots that I save for special occasions. My hair was tied back in it's usual braid, and I was hoping that I looked decent enough to go into this restaurant. Most of the people I saw were dressed in nice suits or fancy dresses, so although I looked rather put together compared to my normal appearance, I still stuck out like a sore thumb.

Well, if there's anything I can take comfort in, it's that my manners are probably as bad as everyone else here. As I was walking down the street, a blur of pink and red plaid slammed right into me. I didn't think they apologized to me after they got back up, so I sent them a pair of obscene gestures with my hands and said something along the lines of "fuck you, asshole".

I got up and continued to walk down the street, muttering to myself about how rude that person was.

"Jesus, what's wrong with people these days." I mutter. "Have they forgotten about common decency? Honestly, they should go to an etiquette school and learn some manners." I then bust out laughing because my little outburst reminds me of someone.

Not long after that, I freeze, having realized something.

_Crap!_ I think. _I forgot the name of the name of the restaurant! _

I quickly walk over to a building and lean against a window. I don't wanna get in anyone's way as I look through my phone. I pull up the last text conversation between me and Sarah and read though the texts.

Mi &amp; sum freindz r goin 2 a sushi bar wanna cum

Sure, I'll go.

Kool its in abiko

Nothing else after that. I stare at my phone with a deadpan expression.

"Am I really stupid enough not to ask for clarification after getting a non-specific text like that?" Apparently so. I sigh and text Sarah again.

Ehehehe... Uh... Hate asking this so late but where specifically in Abiko is the restaurant?

I hit the enter key and wait for her to text back. In the mean time, I just sink down onto the sidewalk so that I'm sitting balancing precariously on the balls of my feet with my back against the wall. I shut my eyes, lean my head back, and start humming "You are So Beautiful" by Escape the Fate.

I felt a nice, cool breeze stroke my cheeks. It was then that I realized how unseasonably warm it was for the beginning of March.

_This is so nice. I hope it stays like this. I hate the cold._

I then turned my head so my ear was pressed up against the glass and heard the sudden, unexpected sound of laughter. I teetered a little on my feet before steadying myself again.

"Must've been from inside the restaurant." I said to myself. I pressed my ear back up against the window and shut my eyes.

_So tired..._

"So," I heard a somewhat familiar voice say from inside the restaurant. "I told that terrorist jackass that I don't do business with members of ISIS and kicked the bastard out of my office. Miku was so impressed that she blew me, right there."

"Wow, Hutzburger." A voice inside the restaurant said. "I have to say, I'm impressed."

_Hutzburger? Logan!_

My eyes flew open and I stood up. Looking into the window, I saw four males sitting at a table together in Fancy!. Three of them I didn't recognize, one was Logan. They were sitting right by the window, so it was impossible for him not to notice me. He put on a smirk that just screamed "malicious intent" and waved at me. I just sent the same obscene gesture I sent the person who ran into me.

His face fell at that and he pulled out his phone. He opened up some app and said something along the lines of "hey, wanna see something cool" to his friends. He held the phone in the center of the table. One of his friends grabbed it and stared at it with a disturbing expression on his face. He then turned the phone so that way the guy to his left could see and that's when I saw what was on the screen.

It was me...

In my bedroom...

Without any clothes on...

Before I knew it, fury had consumed me and I was inside the restaurant. Logan must have anticipated my reaction and stood to greet me.

"Why hello, Marci-koi." He said.

I said nothing as I grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled not only those down, but his underwear, too. I heard several people gasp and someone scream. I think a woman near the back may have fainted.

My actions didn't affect Logan, though. He just smirked, turned to his friends and said: "See guys, I told you bitches love blowing me."

Okay, that crossed the fucking line. My initial reaction was to scream at him, but just as I was about to get the words out of my mouth I changed my mind and kicked him square in the nuts instead.

Logan's face turned red as he fell to the ground, gripping his privates and screaming in pain. Although the boots I was wearing were made of a soft leather unlike the normal steel-toed ones that I usually wore, I put all of my might into the kick. Plus, he didn't have any pants or underwear on, so he had less layers of protection against the kick. I could imagine how painful it was, but I held no sympathy for him.

"Go fuck yourself, fucktard." I said, once again flashing that obscene gesture. I turned and walked out of the restaurant, leaving behind all of the shocked people who's dinners I just ruined.

_Damn, I need a drink._

* * *

Ran's eyes slid open and she yawned.

"I fell asleep." She said, stating the obvious in a sleep filled daze. "Isn't Amu-chan done eating yet?" She attempted to push her egg open to see out, but found she couldn't. The egg shook a bit, but the top wouldn't come off. "Huh? It won't open."

"Neither will mine-desu." Ran could hear Su's voice coming from her egg, which sounded like it might be a bit farther away than it was when they fell asleep.

"Sounds like you guys woke up." Miki voice said. It sounded just as far away as Su's, but coming from the right side instead of the left.

"Miki." Ran said.

"What's going on-desu?" Su asked.

"I think we've been locked in." Miki said. Ran and Su let out cries of shock. "Based on my reasoning, Amu-chan is being mean." Oh, will you just let go of the plunger thing already? It was life or death, there's no point in getting all pissy about it.

**THUMP! CLA-THUNK!**

The center of gravity shifted as the world outside their eggs changed. They then heard two loud clicks, like someone was opening a brief case.

"Amu-chan?" Ran said, hoping that her Bearer's voice would be the next one she heard. It wasn't Amu, though she did recognize it. It was a villainous, male voice.

"Hello, Amu Hinamori's Guardian Characters." He said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Nikaidou-sensei?" Ran exclaimed.

"Whoa!" Miki exclaimed as she noticed the tape on her egg. (I guess Guardian Character Egg Shells are a bit translucent in the right light.) "What's with this tape?"

"I can't get out-desu!" Su exclaimed.

"That sealing tape was made especially for Guardian Characters." Nikaidou explained. You won't be able to escape. I couldn't let this chance slip by."

"Why are you doing this?" Miki asked.

"What are you going to do with us?" Ran demanded to know.

"Cooking happens to be one of my hobbies." Nikaidou said. "Does that give you a general idea?"

"C-cooking?!" Su exclaimed in fear. "We may be eggs, but we certainly don't taste good-desu!"

"I'm not actually going to eat you." Nikaidou said. "You'll see soon enough." And with that, he slammed the cover of the case back down.

* * *

You know that few minute quick look around the general area of the restaurant? Yeah, that turned into Amu running around a strange city at nearly nine o'clock at night, searching for her Guardian Characters. Uh, Amu, I know your Guardian Characters mean a lot to you, but you've been in the bathroom for nearly an hour now. You're parents are probably going to be looking to leave soon (Or right now because of that scene I caused.). Don't you think they're gonna panic when they find that you're not in the bathroom and call the cops? But, of course she wouldn't think of that. She continued to run around the city, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of Ran, Miki, and Su.

Eventually, she came to a stop in the middle of an empty street, trying to get oxygen into her lungs. She took in deep breaths of warm air as she tried to think of where they could have gone.

"You looking for something-nya?" She heard a familiar voice say, snapping her out of her mental agony. She looked up and saw Yoru standing there with the members of his cat-gang.

"You're..." Amu said, not finishing the thought. "Which means Ikuto's here, too?" Is it me, or did she seem the tiniest bit excited at the idea of Ikuto being there?

"I'm not with Ikuto." Yoru said as he crossed his arms and turned his head to the side, trying to seem cool. "I'm in the middle of a vital secret mission he sent me on-nya."

"A secret mission?" Amu questioned.

"Wanna hear about it, don't you?" Yoru said.

"Not really." Amu said. Well, that made Yoru drop the cool-guy act for a few seconds. He fell backwards in shock. "Anyway, do you know where my Guardian Characters went?"

"Oh?" Yoru said, getting back up. "So you do want to know about my secret mission."

"What do you mean?" Amu asked.

"I won't tell you anymore-nya." Yoru said in that smug "I-know-something-you-don't-know" sort of way. "Okay, guys." He turned to his cat-gang and said. "Let's continue the mission."

"Wait!" Amu said, despair to get the information from him.

"What is it-nya?" Yoru asked.

"Does your mission have something to do with my Guardian Characters?" Amu asked in a firm voice.

"Beats me-nya." Yoru said.

Amu "hmmed" in annoyance and then held up three fingers in the air.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yoru asked.

"If you tell me about your mission," Amu said. "I'll give you three branches of catnip."

"D-don't play me for a fool." Yoru stuttered, obviously tempted to take the offer. "You can't buy me with..."

"Four branches!" Amu exclaimed, changing the number in her hand from three to four.

Yoru thought about it for a second before turning to her and saying: "How about five?"

"Deal!" Amu exlaimed.

Yoru floated down to her level and cleared his throat.

"The truth is-nya..." He said, before flying up close to her ear and whispering the second half. "We're trying to figure out what Nikaidou is up to."

"Nikaidou?" Amu repeated.

"Yeah!" Yoru said. "So we're keeping an eye on him, when we happened to see him stealing your eg-" He was cut off by both of Amu's hands clasping around him.

"What did you just say?" She asked in a panicked shock.

"I-I said we saw Nikaidou steal your eggs!" He shouted, desperate for her to stop shaking him and let him go. She did let go, but it was only because her hands went completely numb from the shock.

"No way." She said. "They were taken by Nikaidou. What do I do? What do I do?" Her actions that day suddenly came back to her. Using the toilet plunger to save Miki, slamming the top of the pouch shut when Miki's bitching pissed her off, leaving them with the restaurant attendant and sticking her tongue out at them... She regretted it all immediately. "It's my fault. Because I was so mean to them."

* * *

Amu got Yoru to agree that he would take her to Nikaidou if she gave him four more branches of catnip. She new this would probably cost her a lot, but if it was to get Ran, Miki, and Su back, it was worth it.

Yoru led her to the end of the street they were on, then over a chain-link fence. They then crawled through some bushes, down an extremely narrow alleyway, and across a cement wall that separated the backyards of two houses.

"Hey!" Amu finally said. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

"_Alley cats are all about shortcuts, shortcuts-nya_." He said in almost a singing tone. He then pointed at something a few feet in front of them. "We're climbing that wall next-nya." Amu turned to look at it an- HOLY FUCK, YOU WOULDN"T GET ME TO CLIMB THAT WALL IF YOU GAVE ME A MILLION DOLLARS!

The wall was made of stone, which gave it plenty of footholds, but it was seventy-five feet up. Three times the height of the tree Amu fell from. At the top of the wall was the pedestrian walkway for people who were walking alongside Route Six. I've walked down it before, and let me tell you just standing up there is enough to make me queasy. Hell, one time I walked down it with Ikuto and I swear I saw him turn fifty different shades of green and this is a guy who can lean over the safety rail on Easter's roof like it's nothing.

If you fall off it, it's certain death. Only an idiot would gamble their life like that.

"There's no way!" Amu protested.

"Who knows what'll happen to your precious eggs if you keep dawdling." Oh my god, Yoru! You're gonna end up killing her! Don't force her to do it!

Well, either Amu was that desperate to get her Guardian Character back or that stupid. She slid her foot into one of the footholds and used two hands to haul herself up the wall. To help keep herself from falling off the wall, she reminded herself of what she learned when her class went on a field trip to a rock climbing gym in second grade.

"Remember," She said to herself. "hand, hand, foot, foot."

Hand, hand, foot, foot...

Hand, hand, foot, foot...

Hand, hand, foot, foot...

Eventually, Amu was about halfway up the wall. She didn't look down at all. She kept her gaze locked on the stones above her, determined to get her Guardian Characters back.

_Ran, Miki, Su..._ She thought.

That momentary breach in her hand, hand, foot, foot mantra caused her to lose her grip. She screamed as she fell backwards. Amu closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. When she didn't feel a sharp pain envelop her body. She worked up the courage to open her eyes and find that she was in familiar arms.

"Ikuto." She said aloud.

"You sure like to fall." He looked down at her and said.

"Wha-" She said as she spung out of his arms, her face turning as red as her jacket.

"Ikuto." Yoru said as he floated over to him.

"Yoru," Ikuto said. "what's going on here? I don't remember telling you to keep an eye on her." Which in Ikuto's language translates to: "I don't remember telling you to basically force her to commit suicide by climbing up that wall."

"Uh, well," Yoru said. "this and that happened and then catnip..."Ikuto sighed.

"We'll talk about this later." He said. He was about to turn to Amu to say something when they heard screaming.

"What was that?" Amu asked.

"Don't know." Ikuto said.

A sinking feeling slowly started creeping up in Amu's gut.

"I'm gonna go check it out." Amu said.

"Hey, wait!" Ikuto called out as Amu ran off to a road nearby. She went through a tunnel that led to a park area. She was pretty sure she heard the screaming come from there, so she took off down a path leading through it. Before long, she encountered several people lying on the ground. In the center of that group of bodies, stood Nikaidou and about eleven X-Eggs.

"Hmph." Nikaidou said. "It's not the Embryo again..."

"Nikaidou-sensei!" Amu shouted, catching Nikaidou's attention and causing him to turned to face him. "You're the one who did this, right? You're the one who turned everyone's heart's eggs into X-Eggs!"

"'If Easter puts X's on everyone's eggs,'" Nikaidou said, repeating Amu's words to Ikuto on New Year's Eve. "'then I'll cleanse them all.' wasn't it, Himamori-san?" All of a sudden Nikaidou raised his right hand and the X-Eggs let out a burst of energy that pushed Amu to the ground. It wasn't painful, it was like an extremely strong burst of wind. Like standing outside in the middle of a hurricane. Like... Like...

_Like when I found Ikuto in the park on Chistmas Eve. Wait, was Nikaidou there then, too?_

Amu didn't have too much time to contemplate the thought as the attack became more intense and started pushing her back several feet. She gripped the edge of the giant cement tile that formed part of the sidewalk and held on for dear life. As she did so, she could hear Nikaidou laugh.

"You're powerless, Amu Hinamori!" Nikaidou shouted. "I wonder if you can gather the power to cleanse the X-Eggs now!" He stopped the attacked and watched Amu gasp and shake as she released her grip on the edge of the sidewalk. "What'll you do? You can't Character Change or Chara Nari! Your Guardian Eggs are..." He then picked up his brief case and opened it up to show Amu it's contents.

"Amu-chan!" Ran shouted from within her egg.

"Help us-desu!" Su shouted.

"My eggs!" Amu exclaimed as she sat up.

"To find the Embryo," Nikaidou began to explain. "we have to remove eggs from all the children. So, the quickest way to do that was to pose as a teacher in your school. With this many X-Eggs," He gestured to the ones surrounding him. "success to my plan is close..."

_Everyone's eggs._

"Stop!" Amu shouted as she got up and charged at him. Nikaidou simply raised his right hand and sent another bust of X-Egg energy at her. Amu was sent tumbling backwards, straight into something soft and warm. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her protectively.

"Ikuto..." Amu muttered softly to herself, wondering why he keeps saving her.

"Nikaidou-san," Ikuto said as he clutched Amu in his arms. "I haven't heard anything about gathering so many X-Eggs at once..."

"It's something you don't need to know." Nikaidou said. "You're not planning on supporting that girl now are you, Mister Black Cat? Not you, Easter's Little Puppet..."

_Easter's... Ikuto is...?_

"Don't worry," Nikaidou said as he slammed the brief case shut, cutting off Ran, Miki, and Su's screams for help. "I'll be using these X-Eggs and yours in a very good way..."

"Wai-" Amu tried to get up and charge at Nikaidou again, but Ikuto's arms prevented her from doing so.

"Don't!" He said. "You'll only get hurt!"

"Let me go!" She cried as she watched Nikaidou get into his car, which was parked near by, and begin to drive off. "**RAN! MIKI! SU!**" Before she knew it, Nikaidou's car disappeared out of sight.

For a moment, Amu just sat there, shaking. It was all too much... She couldn't think straight.

_What's Nikaidou's plan? What is he doing to them? Where is he taking them? Will I ever be able to get them back? What am I going to do? And Ikuto..._

It was all too much. Before she could stop herself, she burst into tears. Ikuto, having had dealt with people suddenly breaking down before (albeit, more violently), quickly pulled her into a more comfortable position and held her tightly. Normally he'd attempt to give some comforting words, but right now, he was stumped as to what the say. He simply held her as she sobbed into his shoulder.

At some point, he started stroking her hair and humming a song quietly to himself. It's a song that's been engraved not only in his mind, but mine and Utau's, too. As long as we could remember, we'd hear our mom singing this when she had a bad day. Eventually, we got in the habit of singing or humming it, too.

"Thank You" by Dido.

By the time they separate, the first rays of dawn are lighting up the sky.

* * *

**Uwah! I'm glad to have that done! I'm not sure if you can tell, but I kind of rushed the ending a bit. It's just because I'm kind of OCD and I've gotten into a bit of a habit to update this every time I stay at my dad's house and I knew I'd be going for two weeks in a row, so... Whatever, it's not like that matters to you people! ^-^**

**So when writing this chapter, I used both episode twenty-one of the anime and chapters ten and eleven of the manga. That's why the fight with Nikaidou is a little different than it was in the anime. ^-^;**

**Okay, I'm gonna go watch a livestream and avoid writing for a few days because I think I may have dug myself a bit of a hole with this chapter. D:**

**Remember kids, it's only cool to kick someone in the nuts if they go around showing off your nudes.**

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 10/17/14. **


	26. The Spider and the Fly

**Happy Halloween!**

**"Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf Featuring Lil' Wayne**

* * *

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;

"'Tis the prettiest little parlor that you ever may spy.

The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,

And I have many things to show you when you are there."

"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high.

Well you rest upon my little bed?" said the spider to the fly.

"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,

And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"

"Oh no, no," said the little fly, "for I've often heard it said,

They never, never wake again who sleep upon your bed!"

Said the cunning spider to the fly: "Dear friend, what can I do

To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?

I have within my pantry good store of all that's nice;

I'm sure you're very welcome - will you please do take a slice?"

"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "kind sir, that cannot be:

I've heard what's in your pantry and I do not wish to see!"

"Sweet creature!" said the spider, "you're witty and wise;

How handsome are your gauzy wings; how brilliant are your eyes!

I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf;

If you'd step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."

"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say

And, bidding you good morning now, I call another day."

The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,

For well he knew the silly fly would soon come back again:

So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,

And set his table ready to dine upon the fly;

Then came out his door again and merrily did sing;

"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with pearl and silver wing;

Your robes are green and purple; there's a crest upon your head;

Your eyes are like diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas, alas! How very soon this silly little fly,

Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;

With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer grew,

Thinking only of her brilliant eyes and green and purple hue,

Thinking only of her crested head. Poor, foolish thing! At last

Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast;

He dragged her up his winding stair, into the dismal den -

Within his little parlor - but she ne'er came out again!

And now, dear little children, who may this story read,

To idle, silly flattering words I pray you ne'er give heed;

Unto an evil counselor close heart and ear and eye,

And take a lesson of this tale of the spider and the fly.

\- "The Spider and the Fly" by Mary Howitt

* * *

Amu felt strange walking through the gates of Seiyo Academy Elementary at six in the morning and wearing an outfit that wasn't her school uniform. She probably should have gone home, but she thought that since she disappeared from dinner and was out most of the night, her mother might keep her home. Or, even worse, ground her. She couldn't let that happen. She'd never be able to go out looking for Ran, Miki, and Su.

_Nikaidou has them. _Was the only thought going through her head. _Nikaidou has them._

She kept repeating that thought in her head as she walked into the gym, into the girl's locker room, found her gym locker, unlocked it, took her spare school uniform (You never know when you're gonna need it.) out and changed into it. She washed her face in the girl's bathroom and checked herself over in the mirror. She hadn't slept, so her hair still looked nice but her eyes were red from crying. Other than that, she looked decent and presentable.

She then went to the Royal Garden. She knew that Tadase, Nadeshiko, and Kukai hung out there before school started. (Amu usually preferred to go straight to class and Yaya always ran late.) She knew if she just sat there and waited, they'd eventually show up. She went in and took her usual seat. She tried to stay awake for a bit, but after about ten minutes she ended up passing out in her seat.

About two hours later she heard the door open, jarring her awake. She sat up and saw Tadase walking into the Royal Garden. He had a look of pleasant surprise on his face as he saw Amu sitting there.

"Oh, good morning Hinamori-san." He said. "I didn't expect to see you here." As he got closer, he began to notice that something was off. "What's wrong?" Amu didn't respond for a second. "Hinamori-san."

"I..." She finally said. "I don't want to talk about it until everyone's here."

Tadase then texted the other three Guardians and they were there in no time flat. Amu then explained to everyone what had happened. How she left her eggs with the bag attendant at the restaurant, how Nikaidou probably tricked the guy and took them, how Yoru led her to Nikaidou and how Ikuto protected her from Nikaidou (Much to Tadase's chagrin.).

"It's all my fault." Amu said. "I don't have any confidence. I can't Character Change or Chara Nari... If I can't get them back what will I do...? Terrible things are probably happening to them right now..." She then felt someone's fist lightly come down on her.

"Silly." Kukai said. "Did you forget? To protect the students from all kinds of troubles is what the Seiyo Academy Elemetary School Guardians are here for!"

"Our friends problems are our problems!" Nadeshiko added.

"We're here with you, Hinamori-san." Tadase said. "Let's retrieve your Guardian Eggs together!"

"Yes...!" Amu said with a new sense of hope.

_Just wait Ran, Miki, Su... _Amu thought. _I'll save you for sure!_

"Alright!" Yaya exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"Wait, now?" Amu said. "Don't we have school?"

"Yeah." Yaya said. "But this is more important!"

"Yuiki-san, we can't skip school." Tadase calmly explained. "They'll contact our parents if we don't show up to class."

"But if we don't do something now, who knows what'll happen to Amu-chi's Guardian Characters!" Yaya argued. "Nikaidou could be doing something terrible to them right now!" Amu turned at least three shades paler at that thought.

"I have to say, I agree." Kukai said. "We don't know what Nikaidou's plan is. It's probably a good idea to get Hinamori's Guardian Characters back as soon as possible."

Tadase looked to Nadeshiko, hoping she'd be reasonable enough to help him out but instead he saw her standing there, biting her lip, obviously torn. On the one hand, if they got caught skipping school, their parents would be notified and they'd be in huge trouble. On the other, if they didn't do something now, Amu's Guardian Characters could be tortured or even worse, destroyed.

"Alright..." Tadase said wearily. "I... I do know a way to skip school without getting in trouble... But..."

"But what?" Yaya asked.

"But it means asking someone who scares me for help..." Tadase said.

"Who?" Nadeshiko asked.

* * *

"Tadase, why are we going into this neighborhood?" Amu asked nervously. She had heard some bad things about this neighborhood. Namely that there were a bunch of druggies and gang members that lived here. While technically, that is true, but there's rarely any **seriously **violent crime. Sure, sometimes people get into small tiffs, but it rarely turns deadly.

"Because this is where she lives." Tadase explained. "Don't worry. She doesn't live too deep into this area. Her house is up ahead on the right."

"You sure we're safe?" Amu asked. "I've heard there are a lot of wackos who do drugs and stuff here."

"Don't worry." Tadase said. "We'll be..." I don't think he could bring himself to say the word "fine".

"Wait, that house?" Nadeshiko asked as the five of them got closer to their destination. "Isn't that..."

"Yes." Tadase cut her off before finishing that sentence. His voice was filled with a mixture of fear and dread.

"Are you sure you can handle going there?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Why?" Yaya asked. "Who lives there?"

"You'll see, Yaya." Tadase said. "And yes, Nadeshiko, I'm sure I can handle myself."

Amu, Nadeshiko, Kukai, and Yaya all gave concerned looks to their friend. Whoever this person was that they were going to see, Tadase obviously wasn't happy about it.

They walked up to the house and went around to the back. They could hear loud rap music playing inside. Tadase knocked on the large, sliding glass door in the back of the house. He had to knock pretty hard in order to be heard over the noise. After a few minutes, they saw a girl with dark hair and blue eyes come around a corner, walk into the kitchen, and open the door.

"If you're here about the Volkswagen," I said with my eyes shut, pinching the bridge of my nose. "that Craigslist post was misprinted. The guy lives Ryugasaki, not Toride. If you want I can Mapquest directions for you, just as long as you get off my lawn."

"We're not here about a Volkswagen, Marceline-san." Tadase said with the slightest bit of aggravation in his voice.

"Oh." I said as I opened my eyes and let my hand fall to the side. "Hey, Tadase, what's up?"

"Wait, you know her?" Amu asked with a mix of shock and surprise.

"Yeah." Tadase said, sounding a little ashamed. "I've known her since I was a baby."

"You make that sound like a bad thing." I said trying to sound teasing, but coming off bitterly. I blame the after effects of last night's drinking. Damn Logan. Tadase just made some sort of hum that seemed to mean "Yeah, well..." in response. "Alright. What do you guys want? Wait, aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Uh... Yeah..." Tadase said. "That's kind of what we're here about..."

"Ooo..." I tried to say tauntingly. "Tadase's skipping school!"

"It's a serious emergency!" Tadase protested.

"Sure it is, sure it is." I said, trying to suppress a grin.

"Look," Tadase said, trying to keep the last bit of patience that he had. "Could you just please call the school and tell them that we won't be coming in today?"

"Okay." I said. "I'll do it." A look of relief crossed all of their faces. "For five-hundred yen. Each." Their faces dropped at that.

"I-I don't have any money." Amu said.

"Yaya doesn't have any money either." Yaya said.

Tadase, Nadeshiko, and Kukai all opened their bags and began searching for any amount of stray cash that might be floating around in there.

"I... Uh..." Nadeshiko said as she pulled a bill from her bag. "I have five-hundred yen." She said as she handed me the note.

"I have a thousand." Kukai said handing me another note.

"A thousand." Tadase said as he gave me the last note.

"Okay." I said. "Alright, come in." I pushed the sliding glass door open wider, allowing them all to pass through. "I'll call them in a few minutes, just let me make myself look halfway decent and find my phone. Have a seat at the table." I shut the door once they were inside and ran up the stairs. The five of them, meanwhile, all took a set around the kitchen table. Tadase sat at the head of the table while Amu and Nadeshiko sat next to him on opposite sides. Kuakai sat next to Amu and Yaya sat next to Nadeshiko. It was quiet at first, but then Amu said something to break the silence.

"I'm sorry," Amu said. "I just have to ask this. Tadase, how are you scared of her? I mean, I've met her before and she just doesn't seem dangerous to me. ...A bit strange and a little panicky, sure, but not dangerous."

Silence...

"Amu-chan," Nadeshiko said. "do you even know who she is?"

"Uh..." Amu said. "Not really... When I met her, she gave me a name that was obviously fake."

"Her name is Marceline Tsukiyomi." Tadase said. "She's Ikuto Tsukiyomi's sister and she's kind of... Not alright..."

"What do you mean?" Amu asked.

"She's kind of violent..." Tadase said. "And emotional..."

"She's also a pretty good shot." Nadeshiko said. "My mother buys game from her. She can take down a hundred and sixty once turkey with one clean shot to the eye using that bow and arrow of hers."

"Your mom buys game?" Kukai asked.

"She says it's less fatty than the meat you buy in the store." Nadeshiko shrugged.

"Wait," Amu said. "if she's Ikuto's sister, does that mean she works for Easter?"

"I doubt it." Tadase said. "I don't think they'd have someone as unstable as her work there."

"Who'd have someone as unstable as who working where?" I asked as I walked back into the kitchen. I had changed from the black tank-top and sweatpants that I had been wearing into a light pink t-shirt and a pair of Utau's old leggings.

"Nothing." Tadase said. He knew that if I knew the full context of the conversation, I'd be pretty pissed and maybe even unwilling to help them out. I just gave a suspicious "hm" in response and sat down at the end of the table between Yaya and Kukai.

"I'm gonna have to make this quick." I said. "I need to be out of here, ASAP. What's the number?"

"It's one, five-five-five, three-five-three, nine-three-eight-eight." Tadase said.

"One, five-five-five, three-five-thee, nine-three-eight-eight." I repeated as I dialed the number. "Got it!" I said as I heard the phone ring. "Now what should I say to the attendance lady?"

"I don't know." Tadase said, his voice filled with anxiety. He probably just now realized that they were actually going to do this. "Make something up."

"I don't know wha-" I was cut off y the person on the other end of the line picking up. "Hello." I tried to say pleasantly. "Is this the Seiyo Academy Elementary School Attendance Office? That's great. My name is Mizue Hotori and I would like to report that my son and some of his friends will be absent today. Their names? Tadase Hotori, Amu Hinamori, Nadeshiko Fujisaki..." I pointed at Kukai, indicating that he should give me his name.

"Kukai Soma." He said.

"Kukai Soma." I said. "And..." I then pointed at Yaya.

"Yaya Yuiki." She said.

"Yaya Yuiki." I said. "Eh? Uh, why will they be out? Uh... Oh, you know it was the darnedest thing! They were all over, playing at my house yesterday when I noticed that they were all showing symptoms of Ebola! So, I rushed to the hospital and now they're receiving treatment. What hospital? Uh... Saint... Illness. Yes, St. Illness! Uh-huh. Oh, they're stable right now, but I'll keep you updated. Okay. Alright. Bye." I then hit the "end call" button. The room was silent for a minute.

"You told them we have Ebola..." Tadase finally said.

"Oh..." I said. "Oops. Should've thought about that first."

"Why would you tell them that?" Tadase said. "Five-thousand people have died of Ebola already! It's not funny! Plus, if they somehow actually bought your story, they'd figure out pretty quickly that there's no such hospital as St. Illness!"

"Hey," I said. "You can't expect me to lie well on the spot, especially when I'm hung over."

"What does hung over mean?" Yaya asked.

"It means she's drunk." Nadeshiko said with the slightest bit of shock in her voice.

"It means I was drunk **yesterday**." I corrected. "Look, Tadase, I swear to god if you get caught, you will not get in trouble. If the school finds my story suspicious, they'll call the cops who'll trace the call which will lead back to me. If anything, your mom will think I was the one who got you to leave school and bitch me out. You have nothing to worry about."

Tadase just gave me a look that said "yeah right" and I had to suppress the urge to make an annoyed growl.

"Alright." I said, giving up. "Now I **really **need to get out of here. I did something kind of bad and I'm screwed if I stay." I started gesturing them to get out. "C'mon, get out."

I managed to get all of them out except for one.

"Didn't you hear me?" I said to Amu. "I said 'get out'."

"Why didn't you tell me who you were?" Amu asked.

Because knowing me only screws you over.

That's what I wanted to say, but I knew she'd want me to elaborate so instead I just said:

"Truth is, I'm a liar."

There was dead silence after that. Neither of us really knew what to say. We probably would have stood there forever if I didn't hear the front door open and Ikuto going up the stairs.

"Oh crap!" I said. I then ran over to Amu and pushed her out the door. "Get out, get out, GET OUT!" She landed on the ground with a thud and I slammed the sliding glass door. As she got up and began walking off the property, she could hear people screaming at each other. Something about me writing on Ikuto's bedroom wall.

_Okay, that might be a little scary,_ Amu thought. _but I still don't see how she's dangerous._

* * *

The Guardians decided to first try going to the address that Nikaidou left on his resume. Two buses and a train later they ended up at an empty lot.

"Just as I thought." Nadeshiko said. "The address on his resume was fake."

"Should we barge into Easter's Main Office?" Yaya asked.

"The guards won't let us in." Tadase said.

As everyone stood there, stumped for ideas, their Guardian Characters floated up.

"Leave this to me, the king." Kiseki said. "Between Guardian Characters, we can somewhat feel each other's presence.

"We call it 'Hunch Radar'." Daichi said.

"It's better than nothing!" Tadase said. "For the moment, we can only count on this unreliable Hunch Radar!"

"You're being quite severe, Tadase." Kiseki said. He just got done talking to me, what do you expect?

"Okay!" Kukai exclaimed. "Inconspicuous spy mission start!"

Just then two girls from the local school just happened to be passing by them on the sidewalk.

"Oh my god, are those kids from the ultra-cool Seiyo Academy?" One girl asked.

"Yeah." The other replied. "In fact, I think they're some of the special student's called Guardians!"

"So cool!" The first girl squealed.

Yaya noticed their conversation and smiled and waved at them.

"Oh, hello!" She said brightly, causing the two girls to burst out into a bout of fangirl squeals.

"That's not being inconspicuous!" Amu protested. "You guys stand out in those capes! Take them off!"

"Huh?" Kukai said. "But then we can't be cool!"

Just then all of the guardian characters sensed something.

"Did everyone feel that-dechu?" Pepe, Yaya's Guardian Character said.

"Yes," Temari, Nadeshiko's Guardian Character said. "It's close by..."

"What, really?!" Amu exclaimed hopefully.

"Let's go, everyone!" Tadase commanded and they all began following the Guardian Characters to where they felt the presence.

* * *

"Utau-chan," The stage manager called. "you're up next."

"Okay." She said, taking her place. She sat at a table outside the café that the program she was on was shooting at. She watched as the stage manager directed all of the on-screen to their proper places and the members of the crew get their pieces of equipment ready to record. All around her, fans screamed her name but she didn't give them even the slightest bit of attention. You'd think this would disappoint them, but it didn't. All it did was make her seem even cooler.

Eventually, the director called out action and the two bubbly hosts began their spiel. They were dressed and acted nearly identically and if it wasn't for the fact that one had red hair and glasses and the other had dark hair and freckles, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

"Live! _Noboko Saeki's..._" Started the red-headed host.

"..._On the Road! Anything Spiritual Cafe!_" Finished the dark haired one.

"Today's guest is the super popular Utau-chan!" Said the red headed host.

"But first, our spiritual chart corner!" The dark haired host said. "Check One! Utau-chan, do you believe in Guardian Spirits."

Utau just stayed silent for a long moment.

"...Yes." She finally said.

Meanwhile, behind the line of cameras and directors, Yukari watched one of the screens that was showing what the audience was seeing on live TV.

"I keep telling that girl to smile..." Yukari muttered to herself. This is one thing Utau and I have in common, a complete inability to make ourselves likable, especially in front of cameras. Well, I think most of Utau's problem just stems from her attitude. If she just didn't sit there and pretended like everyone wasn't there, she'd be much more likable and interesting. Trust me, I know. My problem, however, is that nearly every time I've been in front of a camera, I had more pressing issues on my mind (Like whether or not I was going to die.) so I guess my bad performances are somewhat excusable.

"Huh?" The stage manager, who was standing nearby said into his headset. "What do you mean Saeki-sensei isn't ready yet?"

* * *

"Saeki-sensei." One of her managers said. "You're on in two minutes..."

"I can't help it!" The old woman said in a booming voice (Wow, I guess that's not just for the show.) as her prep team painted her fat, wrinkled face. "My makeup's not done yet! Who do you think I am? I'm Noboko Saeki!"

"Of course, sensei!" One of her managers said, bending to his talent's will.

"As you say, sensei!" The other manager said, just as spinelessly.

"Sensei! Sensei!" Noboko said. "You're so loud!" Look who's talking.

"Of course, Sensei!"

"As you say, Sensei!"

"Tiresome..." Noboko muttered. "First of all," Then she burst out of her seat, and began dramatically shouting at the top of her lungs. "I'M NO CHARASMATIC FORTUNE TELLER! I'M JUST AN ORDINARY OLD HAG!" She was quickly silenced by the hands of her managers.

"Wh-what are saying, Sensei!" One of her managers said as Noboko tried to protest from underneath his hands.

"You!" Her other manager turned to a member of her prep team and said. "Get Sensei some water, now!" The young woman nodded and promptly got a glass of ice water from the fridge. She came back and handed the glass to Noboko as her managers eased her back into her chair. Noboko took a sip and sighed.

"Well," She said. "I sometimes see and hear things but there are times where I don't see anything... Randomly started saying deviations from Guardian Spirits and it mysteriously worked..." She then bust out of the chair again and started shouting at the top of her lungs. "I ACTUALLY HATE OCCULT THINGS! THEY'RE ALL HALUCINATIONS IN MY MIND!" Wow... I never thought I'd see the day when someone who claimed to be psychic fessed up and admitted they were fake. To be honest, I'd be more excited if it was John Edwards or Theresa Caputo, but I'll take this.

Noboko crumpled to the floor in a very lumpy ball and began sobbing into her knees.

"The real me isn't some great Sensei..." She cried. "Noboko Saeki is an ordinary housewife who likes miso-flavored peanuts."

"You!" One manager said to the other. "Get **that**!" The other manager quickly grabbed a cassette tape player (People still use those?) off the counter and hit the play button. The room was then filled with the sounds of a song praising the "charismatic fortune teller". The song snapped Noboko out of her crying fit.

"It's your theme song, Sensei!" One of the managers exclaimed.

"A million housewives across the country are waiting for you, Sensei!" The other exclaimed. "Give out those famous words!"

She then got up off the floor and said in her signature, booming shout: "Who do you think I am? I'm Noboko Saeki!"

Her managers cheered and clapped.

* * *

The Guardians turned a corner and saw a huge amount of people gathered in front of a café.

"What's with all these people?" Kukai said.

"I think some TV show is recording here." Nadeshiko said, pointing over to the tour bus and TV vans with Sakura TV logos on them.

"Wha..." Kukai said.

"It looks like the Fortune Teller, Noboko Saeki." Yaya said.

* * *

"Sensei's coming!" The stage manager said into the headset. "You can quit questioning Utau-chan now." I'm guessing the two hosts must have some sort of concealed ear pieces in their ears. That's probably how they could handle Noboko being five minutes late without anyone being the wiser.

Noboko strode down the sidewalk leading from the empty lot where the Sakura TV vans were set up to the café where the show was taking place. She had a very heavy and very expensive fur coat wrapped around her despite the fact that the air was humid and it was likely that it was going to rain. (Does menopause cause cold flashes or am I thinking of something else?)

"Sensei, give it to them!" One of her managers encouraged.

"Give that dinky idol some of your fabulous fortune telling!" Hey, that "dinky idol" happens to be my sister!

"I know, I know." She said exasperatedly.

_I... I don't like that Utau girl that much..._ Noboko thought. _Sometimes I can see weird things behind her... It's all in my mind, right? It can't be Guardian Spirits, can it...?_

"That's a Guardian Character, right-dechu?" A small creature that could seemingly read her thoughts said as she floated in front of Noboko.

Noboko screamed and fell to the ground. Everyone in the immediate area (Who wasn't holding a camera or some expensive piece of equipment or had to stay in front of the cameras.) rushed over to see what had happened.

"Saeki-sensei," One of her managers said. "what is it?!"

"A... GHO-GHOST!" She screamed, horrifyingly pointing at the creature that had floated in front of her which had now been joined by a friend.

"This old lady can see us?" The friend, which looked like a green-haired soccer player, questioned.

"I'm not a ghost," The first creature, which upon further inspection looked like a baby wearing feetie-pajamas and a hat with bunny ears, said. "I'm a Guardian Character-dechu!"

Everyone around Noboko, however did not notice them. In fact they looked at the space she was pointing at and looked back at her like she was crazy.

"C-CANT YOU SEE THEM?" Noboko cried, desperately hoping that she wasn't going insane. However, people still weren't seeing what she was seeing and she panicked. She ran back into her tour bus, screaming. Her managers called for her to come back, but she ignored them. She slammed the door shut behind her as soon as she got inside and locked the door. She took a deep breath to calm herself as her managers banged on the door.

"Come on, Sensei" One manager said. "we're on live TV right now!"

"Sensei!" The other cried on the other side of the door.

She continued to ignore them and climbed the stairs, trying to calm herself.

"Excuse us..." A somewhat feminine voice said. Noboko turned her head and her mouth fell open in shock. Four kids - all of whom could be no older than twelve - sat in the front seats of her tour bus. There was a particularly beautiful blonde boy, a brunette with tan skin and emerald eyes, a strawberry blonde girl who tied her hair up in pigtails, and a girl with long purple hair tied up in a ponytail. They all wore what looked to be school uniforms. The boys wore a blue plaid capes and the girls wore red ones. (Wow, skipping school, breaking in to a celebrity's tour bus... The Guardians have really tapped into their naughty sides today.)

"Wow!" The strawberry blonde exclaimed. "It's the real thing!"

"Who are you?" Noboko demanded to know. "How did you get in?"

"We snuck in during the commotion." The brunette explained.

"Pleased to meet you, Saeki-sensei." The blonde said pleasantly. "Actually, we have a big problem."

_Oh my, what a beautiful boy._

"He's not as beautiful as I am!" A small king-like creature who also could seemingly read Noboko's thoughts asserted. Noboko backed away, screaming.

"I CAN'T SEE IT!" She screamed. "I CAN'T SEE IT! I CAN'T HEAR IT! IT'S ALL LIES; A FRAUD!"

"It's alright," Tadase assured. "They're harmless. We're sorry to have bothered you." Then he turned on his princely, sparkling charm. "But to be able to see Guardian Characters... Sensei, you're special."

"Oh my, no." Noboko said, flattered.

"We're looking for our friend's Guardian Characters," Tadase explained. "Could you help us?"

"How does she do it?" Kukai wondered aloud.

"Natural instincts... Probably." Yaya said.

* * *

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm..." The red-headed host said to the camera. "Well, Saeki-sensei is in contact with spirits now so..."

"It looks like there'll be a change in the program..." The dark haired host said, much to the uproar of the crowd. They weren't the only ones who were upset, though.

"Hey, what's all this about?" Yukari nearly shouted at the stage manager, whom she kind of had backed into a corner. "My Utau is so popular, we don't have any time other than now!" The guy was too scared to respond, so Yukari let out an angered huff. "Call the Director!"

While Yukari was screaming at the stage manager, Utau pulled the floral hairpiece off one of her pigtails and walked off somewhere else.

* * *

Amu sat on the ground in the alley way between the café and another business. The Other Guardians hand told her to wait there because if trouble arose, Amu wouldn't be able to Character Change or Chara Nari. They said that it'd only be a few minutes, but now they were pushing the half-hour mark and Amu was beginning to wonder what was taking them so long.

Amu sighed, turned her head and locked eyes with another person; a girl with white-blonde hair and violet eyes in a white and black Lolita dress.

"Amu Hinamori...?!" Utau said in shock.

"Utau Hoshina...?" Amu said, equally shocked.

"Why are you here in a place like this?" Utau asked.

Amu, meanwhile, just got absorbed in her thoughts.

_Wow, this is only the third time I've seen her up close... She's really pretty, so it's obvious she's an idol. But she works for Easter, so she must be an enemy...?_ Haven't we been over this before?

"Ah!" Amu exclaimed as she noticed something. Utau had her Guardian Eggs tied to her again. This time, they were hanging from a ribbon on the back of her dress. (Once again, how can she do that without breaking the eggs?) "So it was your eggs that Kiseki and the others sensed... It wasn't Ran and the others... Damn..." Now we're cussing, too? Christ, what has gotten into the Guardians today?

"Your Guardian Characters aren't here?" Utau said. "Not that I care, but why?"

"...You don't care?" Amu said, not believing it.

"I don't care, but why?" Utau said.

_The obstinate type..._

Amu sighed and explained to her what happened with the eggs. She told them everything she told the Guardians, except she left out the part where Ikuto helped her. For some reason Amu felt like if she brought up Ikuto, there'd be trouble.

"Hmmm..." Utau hummed, thinking over the information. "Nikaidou-san took a big risk."

"You know Nikaidou-sensei?!" Amu said, surprised.

"You could say that..." Utau said. "In Easter, there's more than one group that's trying to obtain the Embryo. Nikaidou-san and my manager, Sanjo-san are competing to find the Embryo first. If they bring the Embryo back, they'll get a promotion for sure."

"Promotion...?" Amu questioned. "The Embryo can grant any wish, right? Why don't they use it to grant their own wish?"

"Well..." Utau said. "How would I know what they're thinking? Money must be more important to them than their hopes and dreams."

_How...? _Amu couldn't even fathom the idea that money could be more important than your own dreams. Personally, I'm the reverse. Well, kind of. In our world, money equals survival. The more money you have, the less likely you are to go to bed hungry or worrying that you're gonna die tomorrow. (That is, unless your money puts you in the public spotlight. Like you're an actor or a politician or something.) The less money you have, the more you're gonna worry about that kind of crap. So, if I had to chose between my dreams and money, I'd pick money. Besides, my only hope for the future is that I die. Hopefully before (IF THE CHRISTIANS ARE RIGHT) the rapture happens. I'm sorry, I just know if that happens, I'm gonna be one of the ones who gets left behind and I'll be too much of a pussy to help Jesus out. I'm sorry, Jesus, it's the truth.

Crap, I need to stop getting side tracked...

"...I don't like Nikaidou-san's methods..." Utau continued. "It's not fair. I wouldn't use his tricks on a kid like you." You're one to talk. Tell me again how you ripped the eggs out of four kids at one of your concerts and twenty at a mall. "You'll see, I don't need stuff like that to find the Embryo and I'll save Ikuto from Easter..."

"Save... Ikuto...?" Amu repeated aloud, trying to figure out the meaning behind them. An extremely pissed off look immediately crossed Utau's face.

"Don't call him 'Ikuto' like he's your friend!" Utau snapped.

"I... I didn't mean..." Amu stammered, but Utau didn't care.

"Ikuto has nothing to do with you!" Utau almost shouted. "I won't lose to you!"

An angered look crossed Amu's face as well. She wasn't gonna take any of this shit.

_At first, I started looking for the Embryo to impress Tadase-kun... But not anymore._

"I won't lose either!" Amu harshly exclaimed. "The people whose egg's you put X's on... I've decided I'll save those people! It's an insult to yourself!"

Utau had no response. She just stood there with somewhat of a shocked look on her face. I'm guessing she didn't think Amu had the balls to say that. Well, okay, she did know that Amu did have the balls to say that 'cause she said it to her before, but this time she sounded more like she meant it.

However, that look of surprise didn't stay on her face for long. Her eyes quickly widened into a look of horror. Amu turned to look in the direction she was staring in and saw something horrifying.

She saw a bus...

...Speeding down the sidewalk at a hundred-forty-four kilometers per hour down the side walk...

...And coming straight for her.

Amu jumped into the alley way and Utau took a few steps back as the bus neared them, and then came to an abrupt stop. Amu got up and approached the bus. She was going to yell at the driver for doing something so dangerous, when a familiar face opened one of the windows.

"Sorry for making you wait, Amu-chan!" Nadeshiko said, leaning out the window. "We're leaving, so hurry and get on!" Kukai and Yaya ran up to the window and leaned out, too.

"Everyone!" Amu exclaimed, feeling both relieved and happy to see her friends.

"We think we can find where your Guardian Eggs are!" Kukai said.

"We've replaced the 'Unreliable Radar' with a 'Super-accurate Radar'!" Yaya explained.

"Noboko Saeki-sensei is helping us!" She could hear Tadase say from some other part of the bus.

"Eh?" Amu said in disbelief. "The fake fortune teller?"

"Fake?" Amu could clearly hear Noboko saying in her booming voice. "That's too harsh!"

"Anyways, come on!" Kukai said.

"Okay," Amu said, running over to the bus's door. "I'm coming."

"Wait," Utau said, making Amu stop in her tracks. "I'm coming, too." Now it was Amu's turn to look surprised. "Even working for Easter," Utau explained. "I can't forgive them for what they did, and I can't act like I didn't see anything."

_Maybe... We are similar..._

"Well, let's go!"

* * *

The bus sped down the street at definitely illegal and dangerous speeds. Nearly all of the passengers on the bus were freaking out, screaming for Noboko to slow down, watch out for stoplights and pedestrians. Amu clung to Nadeshiko, screaming and crying that she wasn't ready to die yet and Nadeshiko was blushing for some reason. Kukai and Yaya were being thrown around the bus because they didn't think to buckle up when they sat down. Tadase sat up front, smiling and assuring Noboko that she was doing fine. Internally, though, I think he must have been terrified. I know he screams like a bitch whenever I drive him somewhere.

Utau was the only one who wasn't in some state of internal or external terror, though. She just sat there, calmly looking out the window. I think she's used to this. While our parents are pretty safe drivers, they had a bad habit of buying lemons. This means that we've had scary experiences in cars before. There was one time where one of our cars stalled in the fast lane of the freeway, another time where the engine just suddenly erupted into a big ball of flames. I even remember once, we went speeding down a road and our mother couldn't get the car to stop. She made us lean out the window screaming "NO BREAKS! NO BREAKS!" until she could find something soft enough to crash into.

"SAEKI-SENSEI," Someone screamed. "PLEASE STOP! IT'S DANGEROUS!"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT," Noboko shouted back. "I'M A PAPER DRIVER!" For those of you who don't know, a paper driver is someone who has a license, but doesn't drive a car. It's common for people in Tokyo or other big cities to get their license and never use it. Mostly because using the train system is much more efficient than getting caught in traffic jams. So, these people are drivers on paper; they have a license, but they've never really done it before. Hence the term "paper driver".

This sucks for the Guardians because, like most people, Noboko probably got her license when she turned eighteen and just kept getting it renewed, even though she never really drove anywhere. Hell, probably the last time she drove was when she took her driving test. Meaning, she's probably forgotten most of what she's learned in Driver's ED and is just winging it. Which also means that pretty much means that everyone on the road right now is in danger of being involved in a high-speed bus crash. The only thing that could make this situation worse is if all the old people decided to go to Country Kitchen Buffet at once.

Understandably, everyone started panicking at this answer. (Well, everyone but Utau. Once again, she's used to this shit.)

"BUT THERE'S A BABY ON THIS BUS!" Yaya screamed, probably making reference to Pepe.

"OLD LADY," Kukai shouted. "ARE YOU SURE IT'S THIS WAY?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Noboko shouted back. "I'M JUST GUESSING! I'M HELPING BECAUSE THIS BEAUTIFUL BOY ASKED ME TO! YOU CAN'T COUNT ON MY SUPERNATURAL POWERS!" Heh, so much for 'Super-accurate Radar'.

"I'm sure we're close." Tadase calmly assured with that charming smile of his. "You drive very well!" Tadase, the only people I know who drive worse than that are myself and every last person who lives in Naples, Italy. Trust me, she is dangerous, you should not be encouraging her.

"TADASE!" Kukai shouted. See, he agrees with me.

* * *

You know, there are several things I've come to expect when commuting to the Main Easter Headquarters. I've come to expect the feelings of dread, hopelessness, and extreme fear associated with the fact that I'm probably going to have to fucking murder someone. I've come to expect that I'll have at least one anxiety attack at some point during the commute. I've come to expect that on the bus to the train station I'll either see an old person die, a baby be born, or a baby be made. I've come to expect that on the train, at least one creepy wino will try to touch either my (extremely flat) chest or my (non-existent) butt. And I've come to expect that on my way out of the train station, some asshole will try to recruit me into his cult. This, I've all come to expect.

What I haven't come to expect, though, is to have to jump out of the way of a bus that just swerved onto the sidewalk (Even though there are safety rails there to keep that shit from happening.) and into the path of a Saturn Outlook that saw me in just enough time to come to a complete stop and barely even tap me. Okay, I shouldn't be as outraged seeing as I didn't actually get hit, but I got the crap scared out of me, so...

Just as the driver was getting out of their Outlook to make sure I was okay, I sprung up and began chasing after the bus. As I ran, I pulled out my bow and one of my arrows. I wasn't gonna kill anyone if that is what you were worried about. I was just going to see to it that they couldn't be a great adventurer anymore. (Get it? _Skyrim_? Taking an arrow to the knee? ...I know, lame joke.)

When I caught up to the bus (And I'm amazed I did because that thing had to be going at least one-hundred ninety-three kilometers per hour.) I saw that it was heading straight for the Main Easter Building. I just froze. Now, I'm not one to wish horrible things upon others (Unless their name is Logan Huntzburger.) but I couldn't resist...

"Dear God," I said. "I'm kinda skeptical about your existence and if you do this, that opinion probably won't change. But if you can please just make that bus crash into the building, the next time I see a Nun handing out anti-abortion pamphlets outside the elementary school, I won't say anything!"

I guess God is pro-abortion because the bus started going up the steps, but stopped right there.

_Damn it._ I thought.

There multiple entrances to the Easter building. There's the one in the front that pretty much everyone enters through, and one in the back that isn't used as much. There are also plenty of other entrances scattered around the sides of the building, but they rarely get used. The bus crashed into the stairs in front of the rear entrance, which is good for me because there's a stone wall there that I can easily hide behind. I ran up to the wall, got myself into a position where I was certain that I could see whoever got out of the bus, but they couldn't see me, and prepared the arrow I had in my hand to fire.

I heard the bus door open, but I couldn't see whoever came out. The bus blocked my view.

"Nikaidou!" A girl's voice shouted.

_Nikaidou? That creepy guy I see walking out of meetings with the Director? He has something to do with this? Wait, I know that voice..._

"I'm surprised to see you here," Nikaidou said. "Himamori-san. How did you get here?"

_Himamori... Hinamori! As in Amu Hinamori? Holy shit balls, what are those kids fucking doing? I just thought they said it was an emergency to get me to call the school! I thought they were just gonna spend the day hanging out at the mall or something! Not... Wait, what are they doing?_

"Don't play around with me," Amu said firmly. "you fake teacher! Give me back my Guardian Eggs!"

_What are Guardian Eggs? A toy? Fuck, if you've come all the way to Easter over a toy..._

"Guardian Eggs..." Nikaidou repeated. Then I heard a brief case click open. "You mean these?" He was probably showing them whatever was inside.

"Wow!" I heard a boys voice, probably Kukai's, say. "Bingo!"

"Noboko-sensei, you're amazing!" That was definitely Yaya saying that.

"Don't move, or I'll crush these eggs." Nikaidou said.

"Nikaidou-san!" I heard Utau say.

_Wait, I heard Utau say!_

"Uta-" I had to throw my hand in front of my mouth to keep from calling out to her. Somewhere in my deepest primordial instincts, something was telling me that if I got involved, all hell would break lose.

"You're really uncool..." Utau continued. "The X-Eggs and her eggs aren't Embryos, so you don't need them, right? Stop bullying the weak!"

"The weak?" I heard Amu repeat dejectedly.

"But stealing Eggs is fun!" Nikaidou said. "The Eggs of Children who only see dreams and hope, but never reality! And I actually need them. They're ingredients in the cooking project I'm working on."

"Cooking!" Yaya exclaimed. I think she thought he meant he was actually intending on eating the eggs.

"'Project'?" Utau repeated. "What is this 'project'? I knew you were doing something in secret but... What are you thinking?"

"That's my question." I heard a woman say as high-healed shoes began to click down the stairs. Someone (probably Utau) let out a small gasp. "Vanishing from the live airing... Utau... Aren't you standing on the wrong side?"

_Wrong side?_

"Sanjou-san," I heard Utau protest. "But..."

"You're such a bad girl," Yukari said, cutting her off. "running out of my sight like that... It doesn't matter now, though... The Guardians and Amu Hinamori, they're all just one big eye sore. Beat them all!"

Utau remained silent.

"Oh my..." Yukari said. "Resisting? I wonder what will happen to Ikuto-kun?"

That statement caused the goose liver I had for lunch slowly fill my mouth again. Only this time, had a half-digested taste to it and came along with a burning sensation in my mouth. I was able to swallow it all back down, but still, I could feel that I was beginning to panic.

_They threaten her like they threaten me? I... I... Those... Those Bastards! They can't put her through that crap! They can't tell her they'll kill Ikuto if she doesn't do what they say! That's my job! I'm supposed to take all that crap on my shoulders. Jesus Christ, what low will these people sink to?_

_Low enough to have an eleven-year-old girl take care of all their dirty business for them._

_True..._

_Now stop over reacting! Look at yourself, you're hyperventilating! Calm the fuck down. This shouldn't shock you. These are the same people who have been forcing you to kill those who dare cross them for the past two years. In fact threatening people isn't even a low for Easter, it's a norm. It'd be weird if they weren't threatening her in some way. So just calm down. It's not that big a deal. Utau's a big girl, she'll be fine._

Slowly, my breathing normalized.

"Okay." I muttered to myself. "I'm fine. She's fine. We're all fucking fine. Relax."

As I composed myself, I thought that at the very least, I should just be thankful that that statement only made me have an anxiety attack. If I had a panic attack, things probably would have been much, much worse.

"Sorry," I heard Utau say as I began listening in again. "but I need you to disappear, Guardians."

"Utau!?" I heard Amu exclaim. Okay, so obviously she just somehow betrayed them. (Damn Yukari and fuck Easter. Not that I'm taking the Guardians side or anything. Although I'm with Easter, I'm trying to remain neutral here.)

"Utau Hoshina has Guardian Characters!" Yaya exclaimed. (Amu probably forgot to tell them after the whole Shion thing.)

_Guardian Characters?_

"And she can Chara Nari?" Kukai exclaimed.

_Chara Nari? What the fuck?_

"That doesn't mean we should retreat!" Tadase exclaimed. "Kiseki! Character Change!"

_What the hell is a Kiseki? Miracle? Oh, and what in the name of holy hell is Character Change? Can someone please explain to me what the fuck is going on? I swear to god you drop out of a conversation for five seconds and it all turns into this big ass mess of mind fuckery that you can't even figure it out!_

"Hinamori, get back!" I heard Kukai say to Amu.

"Oh my..." I heard Yukari say. "Yuu, it seems like a schoolyard competition has started and the Guardians seem to think they can win against Utau with only a Character Change."

"Hinamori-san doesn't have any Guardian Eggs," Nikaidou said. "what will she do?"

"Utau!" Amu exclaimed. "Why?! Didn't you say you couldn't forgive cheating?! Was that a lie?! Utau!"

Amu, honey, that's not "lying", that's hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when you act like you believe something when you really don't. By saying that, Utau was being a hypocrite. If it means protecting Ikuto, she'll pull out every dirty trick in the book. I'm the same way about both of them and Ikuto's the same way about me and her.

But it's not just the three of us that are hypocrites. Oh, no. Every single person on this entire planet is a Hypocrite. Everyone from Bill Gates to that five-year-old in Uganda who was forced by Kony to kill his parents is a hypocrite. Even you, Amu. I'm sure you've said or done something hypocritical at some point in your measly ten years of life, so don't even bother denying it. It's just the way we as humans are.

Utau, like the true hypocrite she is, didn't even bother with an answer. She just stayed silent, until...

"NIGHTMARE LORELEI!" Utau shouted.

Immediately after, I heard a round of screams. None of them were Utau's so I had to force myself to stay in place. I did get that arrow into position, though, even though there's no way I'd be able to shoot anyone around that bus.

"It's for Ikuto!" I heard Utau shout. "I Couldn't choose myself over him! If it's for Ikuto... I'll do anything for him!"

"I never asked you to do that..." That voice almost made me have an anxiety attack again.

_Ikuto? Shit..._

The idea of both of my siblings being in immediate danger made me spring into action. I un-notched the arrow from my bow and hauled myself up onto the stone wall that was behind me. I ended up in a small, man-made wooded area created to make the area look "more natural". I ran across the soft grass and positioned myself behind a tree near where Ikuto and Utau were standing.

When I got there, I got my first good look at the scene. Utau had just sprung up to glomp Ikuto, and Amu and her friends - who were gathered at the bottom of the stairs - all had looks of shock upon their faces. I guess they weren't expecting the super cool and mysterious pop idol to suddenly shift from being so cold to being all lovey-dovey. To be honest, I was a little shocked, too. I know Utau cares deeply for Ikuto, but she's never taken it to this extent. At least, not around me.

"Hey, Utau..." Ikuto said in an annoyed tone. "I can't move."

"But..." Utau said in a sickeningly sweet voice. "It's been so long since I've seen you."

I bit my lip. I needed to get Ikuto's attention now. He thinks more clearly than I do and I need to know whether or not I should get involved. Every fiber of my being was telling me "yes", but some instinct buried deep within me was telling me "no". I picked a small pebble up off the ground and threw it at him. It landed right on the side of his head. He immediately jerked his head to the side (Note that Utau didn't seem to notice this.) and looked directly at me. I just held up my bow.

"Should I get involved." I mouthed.

Ikuto's eyes widened and he fervently shook his head.

"No." He mouthed back.

I couldn't even mouth back an "okay" before Tadase started shouting.

"Ikuto Tsukiyomi!" He shouted. "You've come after the smell of eggs! Today of all days, I won't let you go!" Jesus Christ, you would have thought that he'd clean that sand out of his vagina by now.

"Hey there, Kiddy King..." Ikuto said in a teasing tone. "Having a make-believe parade with your servants again?"

Tadase's face turned red at that remark. I'm not sure whether if it was with fury or with embarrassment.

"Oh, Utau..." Yukari cried. "Come back here!"

"What they want is me, Ikuto." Nikaidou said. "They've come to retrieve Amu Hinamori's eggs.

"Amu's..." Ikuto started to say, but was cut off by Tadase charging at him.

"Show your true self, sneaky cat!" Tadase shouted. "I'm going to settle things with you!"

"Ha!" Ikuto said as he jumped out of the way. "I'm not going to Chara Nari for you!"

_Note to self: Ask Ikuto about all of this "Chara Nari" and "Guardian Egg" crap later. He seems to know what it means._

"HOLY CROWN!" Tadase shouted. Although I couldn't see anything, I felt a really strong whoosh of air go by then.

"Ikuto!" I heard Utau scream.

"Oh, my..." Yukari said, grabbing Utau's arm. "Is it already this late? Come on, Utau, we're leaving."

_Thank god the bitch had the sense to pull her away now._ I thought as I watched Yukari pull Utau into the building. I may have an ax to grind with her later about using Ikuto as a means to get Utau to preform, but it's good that she's pulling Utau away now before she saw Ikuto get hurt or something. Then I'd really have a bone to pick with her.

"Well then..." Nikaidou said. "I'll just leave you to play with them, Ikuto. I'm sure you'll take care of the rest."

Apparently, Ikuto wasn't having any of that, because he jumped backwards in front of Nikaidou and slammed his foot into his briefcase, causing Nikaidou to lose his grip on it. The brief case broke open, causing it's contents to spill out onto the stairs. I saw three little orbs - one pink, one blue, and one green - begin to tumble down the stairs.

"Sorry." Ikuto said to Nikaidou. "My foot slipped." Nikaidou looked like he would have shot murderous words at Ikuto if he didn't have to rush to get the contents of his brief case back.

I guess Amu must've gotten the pink orb back because I couldn't spot it anywhere. She then raced to get blue and green ones back. Unfortunately for her, Nikaidou also began charging for them. Amu's hands just reached out and caught the blue one while Nikaidou's quickly snatched up the green one. Amu let out a sigh of relief as she looked down at the blue orb, but it quickly snapped up at the realization that Nikaidou had the green one.

"Su!" She cried. "Give it back! Give me my egg back!" Nikaidou obviously didn't listen to her and was about to walk away with the one egg he had. "Your job is so gloomy! There's nothing fun about it! All you do is cheat and steal other people's eggs! Just because you don't have one of your own..."

Something about that statement pissed Nikaidou the fuck off. He bounded down the stairs and gabbed Amu by the tie.

"Fine..." He muttered harshly through gritted teeth. "Since you came this far, I'll give you a second chance. Tomorrow after school, come to my laboratory. It's on the outskirts of Toride beside Easter's old staff dorm. But you have to come alone. Keep it a secret from the Guardians, okay?"

To be honest, I was aiming for Nikaidou's hand. But, seeing as I was doing this in haste, the arrow missed Nikaidou's finger by barely a millimeter and sliced through Amu's tie, causing her to fall backwards down twelve steps and onto the hard brick path below. Nikaidou was just putting two and two together as to how that happened, lost my peripheral vision and the small amount of vision I still had was blurry.

I took a step forward and I fell off the wall and landed on my left elbow. I felt pain go up my arm, but it wasn't as concerning as that burning feeling that was returning to my throat. I sprung up, bounded my way up the stairs, into the main building, through a hallway, into the main lobby, out the door and to a trash can. I somehow was able to keep all that vomit down while I did all of that.

I clutched as tightly as I could to the sides of the trash can as I retched into it. Everything I'd eating in the past four hours (When my stomach stopped feeling sick from the hang over.) came up. The goose liver, the crackers, the Pepto Bismol, the Mountain Dew... All of it came up in one disgusting pale brown mess.

As I soon as my stomach decided it had forced enough up out of my mouth, I heard someone who was very pissed come up behind me.

"What the hell was that?" Ikuto said. "I told you not to get involved, so why'd you d- Holy crap." He must've noticed how shitty I looked as he got closer. "Are you okay?"

Instead of giving a yes or no answer to that question, I had a more pressing issue I needed to alert him about.

"'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the spider to the fly;" I said.

"''Tis the prettiest little parlor that you ever may spy.

The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,

And I have many things to show you when you are there.'

'Oh no, no,' said the little fly; 'to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again.'"

Ikuto just looked at me like I had nine heads.

"She's walking into a trap." I explained. "Nikaidou... He's tricking her."

"Oh, I got that." Ikuto said. "I'm not that stupid that I couldn't figure it out myself. It's just that there's a massive amount of blood gushing out of your elbow and you're not reacting to it, which is scaring me."

"Massive amount..." I muttered to myself, then I caught sight of my elbow, which was spewing out blood in a waterfall-like fashion down the rest of my arm. It was so bad that even my cyan gloves were beginning to get soaked. If I hadn't completely emptied the contents of my stomach moments before, I would've thrown up again.

I looked up at Ikuto and noticed that he didn't look to good. He never deals with blood well, unless it's his own. His own blood he doesn't care about. Other people's blood however...

"Hey," I said, causing him to look away from the wound that had captured his full attention. "how far away do you think the nearest hospital is?"

"About half a mile." He answered, sounding like he was struggling to keep his lunch down.

"Good." I said. "Then I won't need to call an ambulance."

* * *

After her tie suddenly snapped (I don't think she saw my arrow slice through it.) she had fallen backwards down the stairs. Tadase caught her (causing her to blush) before any serious injury to come to her. I think the Guardians must've been more focused on Amu's well being, cause none of them said or did anything when I fell off the wall and ran.

The Guardians had asked her what Nikaidou said to her, but she just said it was more cocky bullshit about how he's going to use her egg to create the Embryo. After that, they all decided to go home because it was getting close to when school let out anyways.

Amu went to bed immediately after arriving home. The events of the past few days had completely worn her out, never mind the fact that she only got two hours of sleep during it all. However, sleep didn't come easily to her.

_Su..._ She thought. _Is she okay? Is Nikaidou hurting her? I hope he isn't. I'll make him pay if he does. Why is he doing this? Why does he need my egg? What is this "cooking" he's planning on doing?_

_Also... Why is Ikuto helping me. First, he protects me from Nikaidou, now he helped me get two of my eggs back. I don't buy that "foot slipping" excuse. He helped me. Why? Doesn't he work for Easter? And what's his relationship to Utau? Is she just his friend or something more? She did seem overly protective of him and her voice became so honeyed at the sight of him..._

_Speaking of Utau... She can Chara Nari... And it's so powerful... That attack... What's it called? "Nightmare Lorelei", is that it? That had nearly knocked everyone to the ground. If I actually fought with her using my own Chara Naris, would I stand a chance? No, I shouldn't be thinking that. Although she's working with my enemies... I don't want to fight with Utau. Although she's kind of been cold to me so far, I feel like that's not entirely her. Like, there's a different side to her that I haven't seen yet..._

_Ah! Too many thoughts! I need to sleep!_

And sleep did eventually come. Though I do feel the need to note one alarming thought she had before falling asleep that night.

_Wait... Have I even seen my family at all since leaving the restaurant? _

* * *

**Yay! I'm uploading on the date I said I would! Yay! ^o^**

**I'm really proud of myself right now. I said on Twitter that I'd update today and I did! This is good because I rarely stick to what I say on Twitter. ^-^**

**Speaking of Twitter, if anyone actually follows me on Twitter ( MewWinx96 for those who are wondering...) then you probably saw this tweet from me:**

**"****I... I don't know what to say... One of my favorite fan theories just got dis-proven... I'm... I'M PISSED! #fml #ftw #tweetingwhenangry"**

**Yeah. I'm still kind of pissed. What am I talking about? For those of you who follow _Hetalia_, in the newest OFFICIAL strip, it explains how Germany came to be a country... And completely disproves the Germany is the Holy Roman Empire Theory! -**

**God damn it why?! What did I do to deserve this?! I know, I left the hall light off, causing Sue to kick the cat, but the most that deserved was being called a cunt! Not this! Oh... And I really wanted HRE to be Germany... I mean, I know this doesn't rule out the possibilty of GerIta, but still, it would've been nice... Hm... And I thought the ending of the Buon San Valentino Strip... OMFG! THE BUON SAN VALENTINO STRIP! It did show Germany remembering Italy as a child! If I've got this right, in the _Hetalia _universe, Germany was still broken up into separate countries when the Maria Theresa Strips took place. In those strips, Italy was shown to have been a teenager at the time. Also, the new strip it was PRUSSIA remembering all of this and I wouldn't consider Prussia to be a reliable source. On anything. So, THERE'S STILL HOPE! 8D**

**Did I just go through the five stages of grief in one paragraph or something? I don't know, but I'll leave it in for posterity or something... -_-;**

**Ehehe... I've watched an entire episode of _South Park_ while typing this crap and I still haven't even talked about the chapter yet. Just bitched about _Hetalia_. I suck. Maybe that girl on Facebook was right and I should kill myself... Fat chance I'll let her have the satisfaction, though. :D**

**Well, I'm not gonna lie. While this one was one of the fastest I wrote, it was also the one that was the biggest pain in the ass to write. Wanna know why? Because I used the manga to write this chapter and the only version I could find had a bad translation. How do I know the translation was bad? THE TRANSLATOR LEFT AN ENTIRE SPEECH BUBBLE UNTRANSLATED! Oh yeah, they did! And it wasn't some complex sentence with a lot of complicated kanji, it was a rather basic sentence. I, with my very limited knowledge of kanji, was able to take a pretty close guess at what the translation was, and Google Translate was able to translate it, nearly perfectly. It rarely does that. What was the sentence by the way? It was "You! Get Sensei some water!" That... That... AURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! o**

**You know what, forget about the rest of the chapter. I'm obviously too pissed to continue on with this Authors Note... Oh wait, just to be clear, the poem at the beginning (as far as I know) is public domain. It's perfectly fine for me to upload it onto Fanfiction.**  
**  
****Remember kids, it's okay to tell your school that you have Ebola in order to get a free day off. **

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 10/31/14. **


	27. The Return of the Guardian Character

**How is it possible for wisdom teeth to grow in sideways?**

**"Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace**

* * *

Apparently there are very serious consequences to calling a school and saying that five children will be out sick with Ebola when a huge Ebola outbreak is going on. Who knew?

I guess the attendance officer bought my story because immediately after I hung up with her, she called the NIPHJ (National Institute of Public Health of Japan. Basically, the same thing as the United State's Center for Disease Control.) and they quarantined the school. Yup, you heard me right. Because of me, the entire fucking school got quarantined. I really need to learn to think of better lies under pressure. Especially since I'm an assassin...

So, how long do you think it took them to figure out that there's no such hospital as St. Illness. Let me tell you how long. Never. Apparently, St. Illness is a real hospital in Minato. For those of you who don't know, that's in Tokyo and is a little bit over an hour's drive from Toride. Now you'd think that the school officials would find it strange that five dying children were brought to a hospital over an hour away, but they didn't. I think they must have assumed that they were transferred to that hospital after it was found that they had such a serious and deadly virus. Well, that would make sense if the hospital wasn't horribly understaffed. Yup, that's right. At the time, St. Illness hospital had a serious staffing issue. Though they've fixed it now, there was a point where doctors and nurses were being forced to pull twenty-four hour shifts. Needless to say, many of the employees were so busy helping patients, so no one was around to pick up the phone when Seiyo Academy Elementary called asking about the Ebola kids. And of course, the NIPHJ didn't think to call the hospital because they're with the government and the government is stupid.

So, how did the school finally find out that I had lied to them? Well that's easy. Amu, Tadase, Nadeshiko, Kukai, and Yaya all showed up to school the next day perfectly healthy and fine. In fact, as soon as they showed up, the NIPHJ immediately took them to the hospital to check their vital signs. When they found them to be completely fine, they called the school who called off the quarantine and had the police trace the call. They traced it back to Sarah, who told them that she gave the phone to me.

One stern talking to by the cops later, I was back on the streets to just pull more shit. I couldn't help but feel a little invigorated. I always feel that way when I get away with doing stupid crap like this. Like I've outsmarted the police or something. I really haven't, though. It's just that there are laws that prevent me from being detained and/or arrested. (Unless I commit an act of terror. They don't take that shit lightly.) But still, I felt like I was smarter than the cops and walked around with an undeserved sense of entitlement for the rest of the day. Damn, I am such a bitch...

* * *

Already Amu's day was going badly. She had problems sleeping most of the night because of Su, Nikaidou, and all of the questions rattling around in her poor, little, already sleep-deprived brain. Then, when she woke up and went downstairs, she was greeted by an extremely tight hug by the arms of her sobbing mother. Apparently, she was right. She hadn't seen her family since she left the restaurant. She somehow was able to explain why she left to her family and the cops (Who were also there.) why exactly she felt the need to flee the restaurant without mentioning her Guardian Characters, Nikaidou, Ikuto, and Easter. Somehow, they all bought it. Even more surprisingly, Amu wasn't even in any trouble at all. In fact, she still had permission to walk to school by herself and stay late for the Guardians Meeting. Midori and Tsumugu Hinamori: great parents and terrible parents at the exact same time.

When Amu got to school, she was once again greeted by something she wasn't expecting; officials from the NIPHJ wearing HAZMAT suits. They told her that there was an outbreak of Ebola at the school and she needed to get to the local hospital right away.

They took her to Megumarata Kawa Hospital. That's in Tsukuba, which is north of Toride. I have to say, I've only been to Tsukuba once and I didn't even go to the hospital (I went to check out this huge-ass Ferris Wheel they supposedly had there, but it turned out that the photos I saw were from nineteen-eighty-five.) but it turns out they must be good because they found out pretty quickly that she and the other Guardians did not have Ebola. After that, they took them all back to school and called off the quarantine they had on the school and went to find me so they could chew me out.

After the craziness that was that morning, Amu was grateful to be out of school. She didn't say anything to the other Guardians before leaving and took off in the direction that Nikaidou told her to go to.

_Su. _She thought. _I have to hurry up and save her._

* * *

"Excellent." Nikaidou said as he typed away on his computer. "It's finally complete."

"Sensei." Su said from the birdcage he was keeping her in. "Sensei, what are you doing? Sensei-desu!" That wasn't getting his attention. So, she took a deep breath and tried shouting. "Sen-"

"Shut up!" Nikaidou shouted, surprising Su and causing her to fall backwards. "You've been interfering with my programming this whole time."

"But..." Su said. I can't tell if she was trying to think of some excuse or honestly was afraid to spit it out "Um... Hasn't that coffee gone completely cold? Aren't you going to make a new cup-desu?"

"That's not important." Nikaidou said, turning back to his work.

Su couldn't help but take a look around the room and noticed how messy it was. There were papers everywhere, the books on the book shelf were placed hap-hazardously, everything was covered in a layer of dust.

"Your room's really messy." Su said. "Shall I tidy it up for you-desu?"

"You can try to be clever and escape all you want," Nikaidou said. "but you aren't getting-"

"I won't try to escape." Su said cheerfully. "I'm just going to make some extra hot coffee and clean the room-desu." Nikaidou stopped what he was doing and got up from his chair.

"That's none of your business!" Nikaidou said. "Jeez." He then took a few steps and found his feet buried in crumpled up paper the way one would find their feet buried in snow the day after a blizzard.

"Sensei, are you okay?" Su asked when she saw him stop suddenly. Nikaidou sweat dropped.

* * *

Amu came to a stop as she reached a corner.

"An Easter employee dorm."She said. "He said it was on the Outskirts of town, right? I'm pretty sure it's somewhere around here."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the outskirts of town mean anything close to the town's boarders, right? Assuming that's what it means, then Amu would have to run along the town's boarders in order to find it. I don't know what the perimeter of Toride day is, but it has to be pretty big because the total area of our town is sixty-nine kilometers squared (Or forty-two miles for Americans.). If that's anything to base it off of, then Amu would have to be running for quite awhile. Also, I feel it's here I should not that while others my classify me as exceptionally smart (Although, I classify myself as the biggest retard in all of retard-dom.) I am a horrible mathematician. I can't even calculate nine times ten without a calculator, so don't take my word on this.

"Can you guys sense anything?" Amu asked her Guardian Characters.

"No." Ran said, sadly.

"Amu-chan," Miki said. "want me to get the Guardians?"

"No." Amu said, just as sadly as Ran did. "Nikaidou told me to come by myself. Who knows what'll happen to Su if I don't keep my word. His eyes were dead serious."

With that, everyone looked down sullenly. And then within an instant, without any provocation, they immediately became extremely perked up.

"Don't worry!" Ran exclaimed. "We're with you!"

"Right?" Amu said.

"We can take care of Nikaidou in a jiffy with a Chara Nari!" Miki said.

"A cinch, right?" Amu said, gaining a sparkle in her eyes. "He's just an old fart, right?"

"_Just an old fart!_" Ran and Miki sang. "_Just an old fart! Yep!_"

"_J-just an old fart!_" Amu tried to sing along, too. That was, until she felt someone hit her lightly on the back of the head.

"Hey." They said as they did so.

"Ah!" Amu said, turning around to see who hit her. "Wh-what?" She was definitely surprised to see who it was. "I-Ikuto?"

"Saying stuff like fart in broad daylight... Pretty suspicious for a grade schooler." Says the guy who could recite an episode of _South Park_ word-for-word before he was even in the first grade. What? It's not our fault that our parents left the computer unguarded at four in the morning and never noticed when their browsing histories were erased.

"Huh?" Amu said in what I think was a mix of shock and embarrassment.

"My," An old woman who was passing by with her friend said. "she said fart."

"And in broad daylight." Her friend said. Amu's face just turned bright red.

I wonder how these two old prudes would react to hearing me call Logan a carpet-munching, dick-sucking bastard of an asshole dyke. Probably not well.

"Ikuto." One boy called out. "Hitting on a grade schooler?"

"Huh?" Amu said.

"We're taking off without you." The other said.

"Okay." Ikuto said.

"Huh? What?" Amu said in confusion. She wasn't sure as to why he was walking with two boys who were wearing the exact same thing as him. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together, though. "Are you wearing a school uniform?" She asked Ikuto. "You're a student, Ikuto?"

"Course he is!" Yoru said, popping out from behind Ikuto.

_Oh. _Amu thought. _I kind of had this image of Ikuto living like an alley cat. _

You've been to his house... Although, now that I say this, it does make sense as to why she might think he might chose to not live there. I'm obviously not the most stable person and she did hear us screaming at each other when she left. (Just so we're clear, the screaming wasn't about anything too serious. I just broke into his room while drunk and drew all over his walls. It's understandable why he'd be mad and I was just being dramatic. I have to repaint his walls now...) Plus, there's also a ton of crap that she doesn't know about that would give him plenty of reasons not to stay, but he does. He does, and is forced by default to shut himself up in his room and blast Maximum the Hormone at deafening levels through his headphones while our mother and I have it out downstairs.

"Say..." Ikuto said, snapping Amu out of her thoughts and me out of my monologue. "You're headed for Nikaidou's place, right?" He turned around and began to walk off.

"Huh?" Amu said as she jogged to catch up with him. "How did you know?"

"You just said it out loud." ...And he overheard yesterday. ...And I also told him because I had overheard, too.

"Ah." Amu said.

_He's one of Easter's minions. Did he come to interfere?_

"The former Easter employee dorm," Ikuto said. "is currently an abandoned ruin. Nikaidou has apparently been borrowing the place, under the pretense of using it as a research lab."

"Research?" Amu questioned. "What kind of research?"

"Beats me." Ikuto said. "I didn't find that out."

"Amu-chan," Ran said. "I saw the research lab! I could see a huge machine with X-Eggs in it through a crack in my egg!"

"I heard Nikaidou on the phone with someone," Miki added. "talking about 'making the Embryo' and 'Gozen' and stuff."

Wow. You know you two could have come forward with this shit **yesterday**, right?

"'Gozen'?" Amu repeated the word, trying to figure out the meaning behind the word. She then felt someone grab her face from behind and tilt it upwards. A small blush appeared upon her cheeks as she stared up into Ikuto's midnight blue eyes.

"Gozen is Easter's head honcho." Ikuto explained. "Nikaidou is collecting X-Eggs for Gozen as part of his plot. Him calling you here is some kind of trap. They could devour you. But you're still going?"

The blush disappeared from Amu's cheeks and she stared up at him with a look of seriousness and a glint of determination in her eyes.

"I'm going." She said. "A promise is a promise, no matter who it's with?"

Ikuto's eyes grew wide with shock for a second. For what reason, I don't know. But it quickly changed into a look of sincerity. ...Or something. Sometimes expressions throw me off, so don't expect me to get them right a hundred percent of the time.

"Fine then," Ikuto said, pointing to a nearby building. "do whatever you want."

Amu quickly ran up to the iron gates that blocked the entrance to the building. It must have been recently abandoned, because the only sign of disrepair that showed on the exterior of the tan-bricked building were the green vines that curled and wrapped around the building. Other than that, it looked rather nice. A sturdy, gray-bricked wall ran across the perimeter of the property, none of the windows were broken, and all of the shingles were still on the roof. In fact, it looked like the kind of dorm you'd see on a college brochure. Kind of old and classy-looking, but could easily picture a bunch of young, twenty-somethings gathering on the lawn and playing Ultimate Frisbee or Hackey-sack, or to study on a warm, early spring day.

"This is..." Amu said as she stared at the employee dorm. There was an air of slight disbelief in her voice, but I think it was from the fact that she was probably so close to Su. "When did we... Ikuto, where are we?" She turned and asked, but by the time she looked over, he was already gone. "Huh?"

"He disappeared." Ran said. (Thank you, Catherine Obvious.)

_Ikuto. Did he just help me?_

No, he's trying to screw you over. What do you think past experience is telling you, honey?

"Amu-chan," Miki said. "I can sense Su inside!"

That seemed to be all the confirmation Amu needed to hear. She turned back to the building, regaining the look of seriousness and determination she displayed earlier.

"I'm coming, Su!" She said.

* * *

"Sensei, here you are!" Su said, holding her hands in front of the cup of coffee she made. "Freshly-brewed, extra-hot coffee-desu!" Is it me, or is anyone else wondering how she does that? Seriously, once filled with liquid, that cup must way more than she does. I doubt that with that tiny body of her's, she'd be able to lift something so big and heavy, so how does she do it?

I guess Nikaidou didn't feel the need to question it, though, as he turned to look at Su.

"I already said that I'm not a teacher anymore." He said, rather annoyed. Su paid no mind to it, though.

"Busy, busy-desu!" She said in her genuinely cheery nature and with her genuinely cheery smile. I guess it's already safe to say that being held against her will by some guy who intends on "cooking" her isn't going to have any effect on her.

She flew around the room, dusting, organizing things, fixing the books on the shelves, picking all of the crumpled up paper off the floor. Believe it or not, she had the place looking spick-and-span in no time, flat. Well, except for one part...

"This place really needs tidying." Su said as she floated towards the boxes Nikaidou had piled up in the corner. "Huh?" She said as she saw what was in the open boxes. "Robots?" That word caught Nikaidou's attention. "They're covered in dust. I should clean them up-desu."

"Don't bother." Nikaidou said. "They're just junk."

"Junk-desu?" Su repeated.

"In any case," Nikaidou said as he typed away at his computer. "don't touch anything you don't have to."

Su thought about his words for a few seconds, but then something else caught her attention. It was in a box along with the robots; a picture of an old man and a young boy. The young boy was obviously a younger version of Nikaidou, who's ginger hair and yellow-green eyes seemed not to have changed since then. He held up a robot and had an enthusiastic smile on his face.

The old man, though, seemed to be in his late fifties or early sixties. He was plump, and had a gray mustache that matched his gray hair. He knelled down next to Nikaidou and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"This boy..." Su said as she floated over to the picture to get a better look. "Is you, isn't he-desu?" Nikaidou turned and saw what she was looking at.

"Don't touch that!" He snapped. His response caused Su to jump.

"Okay-desu." She said, remorse in her voice.

From where he was at across the room, he stared at the photo. He remembered when it was taken and exactly who he was when that photo was snapped.

"How sad." Su muttered to herself as she floated to a different part of the room to clean. She ended up flying straight into something made of hard metal. "Ow..." She said as she rubbed her head. Then she looked up at the machine. "This... What's this-desu?"

"My kitchen." Nikaidou said. Su turned to look at him. "Impressive, isn't it? I'm about to use this kitchen to make the Embryo."

"Make the Embryo-desu?" Su repeated as Nikaidou walked up next to her.

"The ingredients are a large quantity of Heart's Eggs," Nikaidou explained. "and a special egg that can do Chara Naris. In other words, you." That statement caused Su some distress. "I doubt Hinamori's naïve enough to come alone. But if she does, I'll use her other eggs, too." And that one caused Su to break down screaming and crying.

"Amu-chan!" She desperately cried out for her Bearer. "Amu-chan!"

"Shut up!" Nikaidou almost shouted. "Man, you're really throwing me off here. It's time to get started. I'm going to inject all of that X-Egg energy into your egg. You'll be reconstructed as a completely different egg."

"A different egg?" She repeated, trying to hold back tears.

* * *

The red X-shaped hair clip in Amu's hair changed to a heart shaped one.

"Hop!" Ran exclaimed.

A pair glowing, light pink wing appeared on Amu's wrist.

"Step!"

Another pair appeared on the back of her ankles.

"Jump!"

With that, Amu jumped up, several feet over the gate.

"Leaping tall gates with a single bound!" Ran cheerily remarked as Amu floated over to the other side of the gate.

Amu landed perfectly on the ground, in a kneeling position. The Character Change came undone and Amu sprung up, running straight for the front door of the building.

_Su!_ Amu thought.

* * *

"Well..." Nikaidou said as he looked out the window and saw Amu running towards the door. "She really came alone. I've gotta hand it to the Joker."

"Amu-chan." Su said with a mixture of desperation and sadness as her Bearer quickly reached the door.

"It's show time." Nikaidou said. He then took out Su's egg, which he had apparently been holding, and closed it around her.

"Amu-chan!" She cried.

"Come on." Nikaidou said. "Hurry back in your egg."

"I feel sorry for those eggs!" Su suddenly exclaimed. "Besides, you can see Guardian Characters, Sensei. Doesn't that mean you used to have a Guardian Character-desu?"

That made Nikaidou freeze.

* * *

"Sensei!" A young boy called out as he ran into a classroom labeled "Craft Room". "Sensei! Sensei!"

"Hey." The teacher said as the boy ran into the room. The boy handed him a piece of paper and he looked it over. "'My dream is to become a robot professor', huh? That's one big dream."

"I'll build the ultimate robot aid!" The boy proclaimed. "One that can carry juice with it's hands!" Wait, didn't Honda already build that? The Ashino or Asuno or something like that?

"A modern tea-serving doll, huh?" The teacher said. Oh yeah, that's right. Our Ancestors beat us to that, too. "I was pretty moved when I saw one as a child. My dream was to build something similar, so I began studying robotics."

"Yeah?" The boy said excited and enthusiastically.

"Let's compete to see who can reach their dream first." The teacher said.

"Okay!" The boy said. "You're on!"

* * *

The next day, the boy found something in his bed.

"What is this?" He questioned aloud. "An egg?"

* * *

Amu burst through the doors of the laboratory, she was about to run through the house, searching for her kidnapped Guardian Character, but froze when she saw what was lying in wait for her.

"What is this?" She said as she looked on at the sight. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds of them. The all were different shapes and sizes, but they all stared at her with the same glowing, purple eyes. "Robots?"

"What do we do?" Ran cried as she waved her pom-poms up and down dramatically. "What do we do? We can't get past this many of them!"

* * *

"The engines of my robot soldiers are powered by X-Eggs." Nikaidou explained, having snapped out of his flashback a few moments prior. "They'll make excellent playmates, don't you agree?"

"Amu-chan." Su said worriedly. Nikaidou used this little distraction as an opportunity to snap Su's egg shut.

"Okay, then." He said. "We should get started as well.

* * *

"Amu-chan!" Miki called out as the robots began to go on the offensive.

"Yeah." Amu said, knowing what her Guardian Character wanted her to do. "My Own Heart! Unlock!" And in a flash, Amu Chara Naried into Amulet Spade.

She pulled out the huge paint brush and called out "Colorful Canvas!" and then sent a wave of paint towards the robots that were approaching her.

"All right!" She exclaimed as the robots fell to the ground.

"Hey!" Amu heard Ran exclaim. She turned and saw that a robot had grabbed Ran by the foot and wasn't letting go.

"Ran!" Amu exclaimed, and then hit the robot with the paintbrush, causing it to let go of Ran.

"Thanks, Amu-chan." Ran said.

"Yeah," Amu said. "but..." She looked around and noticed that the robots were beginning to surround them. "This doesn't look too good. Jeez, how many are there?"

"Amu-chan," Miki said from within her. "above you!" Amu looked up, and saw a robot about to tackle her. For some reason, she froze. I have no idea why though, since the thing is only barely above being thirty centimeters tall and probably weighs less than a kilogram. If it was human sized, it'd be different, but this thing is small! Just bat it away with the paintbrush.

Someone else, though, realized this and sent a soccer ball flying to collide with the robot. Amu's eyes - which showed complete shock - followed the soccer ball as it landed on the ground and rolled back to it's owner. Kukai put his foot on it to stop it.

"Can't say I appreciate you sneaking off, Hinamori." He said.

"Like I already said..." Nadeshiko said. "When a friend's in trouble, we're all in trouble."

"It isn't very friendly of you to leave us out." Tadase said.

"Yep, yep." Yaya cheerfully agreed. "We're also worried about Su-chan!"

"Guys..." Amu said with a mixture of the feelings of being touched by their words and grateful that they showed up to help her out. Then she realized something. "But how did you know I was here?"

"That's because..." Nadeshiko said. "The black cat suddenly showed up and said that if we headed to an abandoned building on the outskirts of town, we'd see something interesting."

_Ikuto told them. _Amu thought. Once again, she found herself questioning whether he was an ally or an enemy. She didn't have long to ponder it, though.

"Stupid thieving cat." Tadase said. "What is he plotting?" Get the damn sand out of your vagina!

"Who cares, who cares?" Yaya said. "We managed to find Amu-chi! Okay, everyone! Let's go!"

With that, they all character changed with their respective Guardian Characters. Tadase swung his scepter at a robot that was running towards him. Nadeshiko slashed a few with her naginata. Yaya tried swinging her Giant Rattle at them, but it proved to be too heavy for her and she ended up dropping it on the ground. I guess it wasn't too bad, though cause when the rattle landed it crushed a few and then rolled over and squished a few more, so win.

"Go, Hinamori!" Kukai said to Amu after he took a few out by doing some sort of trick on his skateboard.

"Thanks, everyone." Amu said before running up the stairs.

_Hold on, Su!_

* * *

"Sensei!" Su cried from within her egg, which was now placed in a large glass bulb that was attached to the machine. "Please stop-desu!"

"It's too late." Nikaidou said. "You should feel honored to be reborn as the Embryo."

"You're really a good person, Sensei!" Su said. "Your Guardian Character will be sad if you do this-desu!"

That made Nikaidou freeze again, but his face quickly changed from being taken aback, to having an evil smirk on it.

"My Guardian Character died before it was even born."

* * *

"Huh?" The young boy said in disbelief. "Sensei quit?"

"His wife fell ill, apparently," Another teacher explained. "and he suddenly had to retire. It's unfortunate, but the craft club will also have to go."

The boy's eyes went downcast and the classroom faded to a dark, black background.

"I hope you'll grow out of robots once you're an older student." A woman's voice said. "You should study instead of chasing childish dreams."

"Keep your grades up." A man's voice said. "Do you want to be a loser in life?"

The boy threw a robot against the wall of his bedroom, which had suddenly appeared around him.

"Another failure!" He shouted with tears in his eyes. "Why won't you move, you stupid piece of junk? You deserve to be scrapped!"

He pushed another robot off of his desk. Then, he heard a cracking sound. He opened his eyes to find that in the process of knocking down the robot, he also knocked his egg off the desk, causing it to break into a thousand tiny pieces.

"Oh-no." He said upon seeing the broken egg. It sounded like all the air was taken out of his lungs. "The egg."

_Humpty Dumpty. _He thought. _A broken egg can never be put together again._

* * *

"Some dreams can never come true once other things interfere." Nikaidou said. "I chose reality over dreams."

"Sensei." Su said.

Nikaidou sat back down at his computer and began typing away.

"I gave up on my worthless dreams." He said. "I'm going to be a winner."

The machine started making noises like it was just warming up or booting up or something. A purple light began to glow from the giant Christmas-tree-light-shaped-thing that Su was in. She began crying and floating to the top of the egg as X-Egg energy filled the bottom of the egg. All of the sudden, the door burst open.

"Wait!" Amu and Ran said in complete synchronicity.

"Hello, Himamori-san." Nikaidou turned from his computer and said. "You're just in time to witness the moment the new Embryo is born."

"Amu-chan!" Su cried out from her egg.

"Su!" Amu exclaimed. She took a step towards the machine, but was immediately blocked by a wave of X-Egg energy. She was glad she had the door frame to hold on to this time, instead of clawing at sidewalk cracks.

"Sorry," Nikaidou said as he held up three X-Eggs which he was drawing the energy from. "but could you stand farther back as you observe, Himamori-san?"

Eventually, the wave became too strong for her and Amu lost her grip on the door, causing her to fall backwards several feet.

"Amu-chan!" Ran said. "Me this time."

"Okay." Amu said and with a flash of light, she changed from Amulet Spade to Amulet Heart. "Heart Rod!" She called out, causing a pink rod with gem hearts on both ends.

"That again, huh?" Nikaidou said, referring to a previous time she used the rod where she missed him completely at first, but managed to knock his briefcase out of his hand. "Did you practice first this time?"

"Spiral Heart!" Amu called out as she spun the rod around and then let it go. Once again, the rod completely missed Nikaidou and went smashing through the window.

"Too bad." Nikaidou said. Amu and Miki just stood there with triumphant smirks on their faces. Nikaidou gave them a quizzical look, and then turned around just in time to see the rod come flying back through the window and smashing into a glass pane on the machine that held all the X-Eggs.

With the pane broken, the extremely large amount of X-Eggs within the machine came flying out. The rod had also broken open the bulb which contained Su's egg, causing it to come flying out, as well.

"Shoot!" Nikaidou exclaimed. "The machine!"

Su popped out of her egg with a huge smile on her face and floated as fast as she could towards Amu and Miki.

"Su!" Amu exclaimed, relieved that her Guardian Character was now out of danger.

"Amu-chan!" Su cried as she reached her Bearer, giving her cheek a nice big hug. "I was so scared-desu!"

"Hey now," Amu said, grinning. "that tickles."

"Who cares-desu?" Su cried as she hugged Amu's cheek tighter.

"Muri, Muri, Muri..." The noise came from the machine. It was soft at first, but it grew louder as X-Egg energy spilled out of the machine. I guess it had already sucked a lot out of the Eggs inside, as they had pretty much collapsed and fallen asleep on the floor. Within a few seconds, the entire floor was covered in a thick fog of X-Egg energy.

"The X-Egg energy is leaking out!" Nikaidou exclaimed. Yeah... I think that's apparent.

The X-Egg energy spread across the room to the robots Su had found earlier. Once exposed to the energy, the robots eyes began to turn purple like the ones Nikaidou had left as a trap for Amu earlier.

"W-What?" Amu said as she watched the robots begin to float up into the air and begin to form a giant mass in mid-air. It kept increasing in size until the entire mass flashed a bright purple light, which faded to reveal a giant robot standing in front of them.

"A huge robot!" Amu said, stating the obvious in shock. She then held up the Heart Rod defensively in front of her. "C-clumping together won't scare me! I'll take all of you out together."

Su let out a gasp as she noticed something. Hidden deep within the mass of the robots, Su could see the photo of Nikaidou and his teacher. Apparently it got tangled in the mass as the robots floated up and it got bigger and bigger.

"You can't destroy it, Amu-chan!" Su said, floating in front of Amu and holding her arms up in a futile effort to keep harm from coming to it. Amu store at her, confused. "Let me handle this! Let's Chara Nari-desu!"

"Alright." She said, trusting Su's instincts. Once again, with a flash of light, Amu changed from Amulet Heart to Amulet Clover. Once she had finished transforming, the robot took a swing at Amu. She immediately jumped backwards to avoid the hit.

"Amu-chan!" Su said from within her. "Let's do it-desu!"

"Okay!" Amu said, raising her hand in the air and causing a whisk to appear. "Sugar, honey, syrup. Let irritation and gloom melt into something sweet!" She then spun around, causing honey to come trailing out in ribbons from the whisk. "Remake Honey!" With that, she sent a huge flood of honey to the robot. It didn't take long for the hone to cover the entire room, causing not only the X-Egg energy to dissipate from the robot, but also heal the X-Eggs on the ground as well.

Amu, Ran, and Miki all stared in amazement of the rich golden liquid that had covered the room. I should note, that it's actual honey that Amu heals these things with. Not a beam of energy in a honey-looking light, actual real honey. I know, I've licked some off of the ground before. (Little too sweet for my taste.) So, they shouldn't be standing there in amazement right now, they should be suffocating. But then again, physics don't exist, so...

So, Amu, Ran and Miki were staring in amazement of the rich golden liquid that had covered the room (when they should be suffocating), but they weren't the only ones. Nikaidou (who also should be suffocating) was staring in amazement, too. I don't get why. He lost. He should be pissed. But he wasn't. He just stood there, silently staring.

Eventually, as the X-Egg energy drained out of the robot, chunks of the smaller robots started breaking off of it and fell to the ground.

"They're all turning back to normal!" Ran exclaimed.

"Amu-chan!" Miki, who had noticed something behind them, said.

"Huh?" Amu said as she turned around. She looked and saw all of the Xes disappear from the X-Eggs. Once they were completely cleansed, the eggs would disappear, presumably going back to their owners. Just then, Su decided to let go of the transformation, causing Amu to go back to her normal self.

"When something needs fixing," Su said. "leave it to me-desu!"

Once the robot was completely broken up, the magic of the "Remake Honey" began putting the now free-of-dust robots back neatly in their boxes. It also set the picture of Nikaidou and his teacher safely inside.

Nikaidou, meanwhile, continued to stare off in a daze as the "Remake Honey" began to fade. I think his brain was still trying to process what had happened. He snapped out of it, though, when he noticed an object floating in front of him. It was a pale-yellow egg with blue, purple, silver, and gold gears of multiple sizes going around it in a pattern.

"My egg!" He said in disbelief. He thought he had destroyed it. He thought he'd never see it again, but yet, here it was as undamaged and pristine as the morning he found it in his bed.

"That's your egg?" Amu asked from behind him. Apparently, this development had caught her attention.

"Yep." Su said.

"I thought I'd lost it." Nikaidou said.

Suddenly cracks appeared in the egg and before anyone could question what was going on, a little blue-haired, green-eyed professor Guardian Character popped out of the egg.

"I'm glad we could finally meet!" The Guardian Character said.

"Are you my Guardian Character?" Nikaidou asked.

"Uh-huh." The Guardian Character said. "But I have to go now."

"Huh?" Nikaidou said in confusion as the egg began to form around the Guardian Character again.

"Good-bye. See you again." The Guardian Character said before the egg snapped shut and disappeared. Nikaidou tried to reach out to stop it, but he was too late. He stood there silently for a few seconds, taking in what had happened.

"I knew it." He said. "It's futile. I've chosen a different path. I can never go back. A broken egg can never be put back together again."

"Su!" Amu exclaimed as she noticed that Su was floating over to Nikaidou. Obviously, she was worried that he'd try and take her again, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. He has nothing else to gain.

"But Sensei..." Su said to Nikaidou. "He said 'see you again.'. Keep reinventing and polishing yourself, and who you want to be can be reborn over and over. After all, you can still see us, right?"

Nikaidou looked down, but was clearly touched by Su's words. Amu, Ran, and Miki also looked on with small smiles on their faces. I think those were out of relief that Nikaidou wouldn't do anything to harm Su, though. After a few seconds, though, I think Nikaidou noticed that everyone was staring at him and immediately went into some sort of tsundere mode.

"In any case," Nikaidou said stubbornly. "my Embryo creation plan failed, even after expending all those resources. It's a total screw-up. There's no denying that I'm a loser now."

"Loser?" Amu repeated. "Who were you competing with?"

"That would be..." Nikaidou trailed off. "Society as a whole, I guess?"

"You can't remember?" Amu said. "Then it couldn't have been much of an opponent."

Nikaidou was taken aback by her response. Amu didn't have much time to consider this, as she heard multiple people running up the stairs.

"Amu-chan!" Nadeshiko exclaimed as she and the other Guardians made it to the door.

"Are you okay?" Tadase asked.

"Guys!" Amu said, happy to see her friends again.

"Nikaidou!" Kukai yelled as he and Yaya charged at him with their fists raised.

"Prepare yourself!" Yaya exclaimed.

"Hey, wait a second!" Amu shouted, causing the two of them to stop dead in their tracks. She then explained that Su was safe, Nikaidou wasn't going to do anything to hurt anyone, and that they were all fine. "Thanks, everyone. But it's okay now. Nothing happened to any of us, and Su's back safe and sound."

"Sorry to worry you all-desu." Su said with a polite bow.

"Well," Kukai said, turning to look at Nikaidou. "if Hinamori says it's okay..."

"In that case," Tadase said. "let's get going."

"Yes." Nadeshiko said in agreement. With that, they all walked out of the room, happy that the worst case scenario didn't play out. Well, Yaya complained that she wasn't satisfied, but I don't really think that matters. Before she left, Amu turned back and waved good-bye to Nikaidou.

"Bye-bye, Sensei." She said. "See you again."

"Good-bye." Su said with a wave as well.

Nikaidou just stood there and watched them walk off. Once they were gone, he walked over to the boxes of robots in the corner of the room and picked up the photo of him and his teacher. He began rethinking everything. His life choices, his future, what he wanted out of life...

* * *

Apparently one thing he probably could have considered while he sat in his office, staring at that picture was how his termination from Easter wold go down. They told him that he had fourteen days to find a new place to live and clear his stuff out. If he didn't, they'd throw it all away. Also, if he ever tried to whistle blow on them, they'd sick me on him. This all seemed agreeable to Nikaidou. He had enough money saved up, so he'd be able to find a decent apartment fairly quickly. Also, he wasn't really that pissed about losing his job, nor did he have anything to gain by whistle blowing, so the second condition was pretty much a non-issue to him.

After he got out from his meeting with the Director and the Head of the Termination Department. (A.K.A. Logan.) he went to a nearby park and sat down on one of the benches.

"I was finally sacked by Easter." He said to himself as he stared up at the sky. "Now what'll I do?" He looked down at the newspaper (They still make those?) he had grabbed at a Seven-eleven. "Might as well check the classifieds." (They still run those?) Nikaidou opened up the newspaper, and was shocked by what he saw on the first page. "This is... Sensei!"

Indeed, it was a picture of his teacher (who was now probably over eighty years old) posing with a doll.

"Reproducing an Edo period tea-serving doll." Nikaidou said as he read through the article. "He didn't give up." He sounded elated at this fact, and went back to looking up at the sky, this time with a smile on his face.

_"Keep reinventing and polishing yourself,"_ Nikaidou could hear Su saying in his head. _"and who you want to be can be reborn over and over."_

* * *

**Seriously! Why the fuck do they have to grow in sideways? Why can't I be like Sheldon and have all my wisdom teeth grow in without an issue? T~T**

**Okay, why am I bitching to you innocent people about my wisdom teeth? Well, the most obvious answer is because I AM IN PAIN! And seriously, I'm bitching to everyone about this, so why do you people deserve to be spared? The less obvious answer is that I have to have surgery to get them removed. Meaning I'm probably not gonna get anything published while I'm recovering. My surgery is on the nineteenth, so I might be able to get the next chapter out before then. I'm not too confident about the chapter after it, though. -3-**

**Anyways, before I go into a long rambling authors note about shit you don't care about like last time, I should talk about the chapter. ...Except I don't have anything to say about the chapter. Yeah, other than that thing at the beginning, I just stuck with the anime on this one. Oh, well. Sorry for wasting you people's time. -_-;**

**Remember kids, it's not cool to be singing "_just an old fart_" in public and in broad daylight. **

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 11/8/14.**


	28. Strange Sudden Freezing Spells

***walks in***

**MewWinx96: Hey, my Nana let me borrow her copy of _Frozen_, anyone wanna wa-**

***sees that everyone in the room is standing as still as statues and is not responding to anything that's going on***

**MW96: Never Mind...**

***slowly walks out***

****"The Game of Life" by Yuzuhiko Featuring Miku Hatsune****

* * *

"Marci-koi!"

_Oh dear god. _I thought.

"Marci-koi!"

_Not this again._

"Marci-koi!"

_Why can't he just leave me alone?_

"Marci-koi!"

_Maybe if I ignore him, he'll leave._

"Marci-koi!"

"Marci-koi!"

"Marci-koi!"

"**WHAT!**" I finally screamed, not able to take it anymore.

"Hi!" Logan said and then burst out laughing. I didn't find it funny in the least.

"God damn it," I muttered to myself. "I really should strangle him."

If you're wondering why the hell I'm pissed at Logan right now (other than the obvious), let me tell you. I had tried throughout the previous week to get him to delete the nudes he took of me from his phone. Not only was I unsuccessful, but I found myself kind of backed into a corner. He told me that he would upload the photos to Facebook if I didn't sign this contract he had by the end of the month. I asked him what the contract entailed, but he wouldn't tell me.

Naturally, I'm not gonna sign something I haven't read, so I declined to do so. Although, I am kind of worried about those nudes. I know Facebook has policies to prevent content like that from staying on the website too long, but it doesn't take long for something to go viral and get saved to nearly every computer in the world. I mean, look at Jennifer Lawrence. I haven't seen those nude photos of her (Well, I did technically supposedly only saw one, but it was cropped so only her face was shown.) but I know enough to know that probably only minutes after they leaked, nearly every straight man and lesbian in the world with access to a computer had those photos saved onto every computer, hard drive, flash drive, and cell phone they had. Although I'm not obviously as famous as Jennifer Lawrence, I do know that most of Logan's friends are extremely pervy guys like him, so yeah.

Anyways, since I wouldn't sign the contract and was very adamant about it, I guess Logan's taken to trying to annoy me into signing it. Heh, like that's gonna break me. Nice try, Logan, but you'll have to try a different tactic. I can't be annoyed into signing anything.

"Hey, Marci-koi," Logan said. "guess what?"

"Ugh," I groaned out. "what?"

Logan then leaned across the bench we were sitting on (I had just gotten out of a meeting with the director and was waiting for the bus to come so I could go home.) put one hand on the area on the back of my head and neck join, put the other on my left shoulder, pulled me closer, and began to run his tongue up my neck. Initially, I froze. I didn't know what to do; how to react. This ass hole was licking my neck in public, in broad daylight and I didn't know what to do.

_My own fault. I knew he wold pull some shit like this and I let him sit next to me anyways. I am a dumb ass. _

Regardless, I felt very uncomfortable with the situation. I needed to get him to stop, ASAP. Just as he began to run his tongue up the length of my neck again, I shoved my right arm into his chest and tried to push him away.

"I don't like this." I stated as firmly as I could while I struggled against him. "Please stop." He then pulled back from my neck.

"You want me to stop?" I didn't like that tone of his voice.

"Yes." I hissed/spat out.

"Okay then." He said. "If you want me to stop so badly..." He then paused as he pulled out a bunch of clipped together papers out of his suit jacket along with a pen. "Then sign this contract."

_I see what you're doing. _

"No way in hell!" I nearly screamed.

_I'm not gonna let you pull that shit._

"Fine." Logan said before pushing me backwards onto the bench and pinning me underneath him. "If you don't want to sign the contract, I guess I'll just have to do something worse."

I didn't even have time to consider what this "something worse" could be before he pressed his lips against mine. If I was frozen before, I'm completely paralyzed now. I could feel the color fading from my face and my heart beating rapidly. This wasn't from any sort of attraction, though. No, this was more from fear. There's a reason I don't like people I don't know/trust touching me and it's mostly for shit this bastard did. So, although his lips moved feverishly against my own, I remained completely unresponsive to the kiss.

The only response that he did elicit from me wasn't a good one, though. As he tried to force his tongue into my mouth, I felt his hands move to the front of my shirt and his fingers fumbling with the buttons.

_Oh my god, he's not..._

He is. Once he got the first few buttons undone, he began kissing my neck and groping my (barely there) boob.

**_OKAY! I'M BROKEN! I'M DONE! GET HIM TO FUCKING STOP, MARCELINE! _**

"**UNCLE!**" I shouted. "**I GIVE! I GIVE! I'LL SIGN YOUR STUPID CONTRACT, JUST DON'T FUCK ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!**"

Logan looked up at me and smirked.

"Alright then." He said. "As you wish." He got up off me and I quickly flew to the other side of the bench and began buttoning up my shirt.

_Holy shit, I feel so violated._

I think feeling violated would be an understatement. My heartbeat wasn't slowing down, I was sweaty (even though I could feel chills rolling down my spine) and couldn't stop shaking. Nothing seemed real... I felt like I was about to throw up the entirety of my stomach's contents and then fall over and die. Oh yeah, I'm having a panic attack.

_Damn, two in one week? That can't be healthy. _Wow. I can't believe there was a time where I thought two panic attacks in one week was unhealthy.

Logan gave me the papers and told me to sign where the neon-yellow sticky highlighter tabs indicated. Being pretty freaked, I didn't bother to read what I was signing and just wrote my name in shaky handwriting, going as fast as I could so I could escape as quickly as possible. I handed the papers back to Logan and he took his sweet time looking them over.

"Alright." He finally said. "Looks like everything's in... Oh, wait, no. You didn't do one thing." He then put the papers down on the bench and pulled something out of his coat pocket that caused me to panic even more. It was a knife with a serrated edge and a curved tip. I have no idea what he needed a knife like that for, but I sure didn't want to find out.

However, I went from being total paralysis to a complete zombie-like state, so I was unable to resist as he took my right hand, made a small cut on the tip of my index finger, and pressed the bleeding digit to a blank space next to where a barely legible "Marceline Tsukiyomi" was written. As soon as he let go of my hand I pulled it as close to me as my body would allow.

"Okay." He said. "That's everything." That's all the confirmation I needed to bolt out of there faster than a road runner being chased by a coyote. As I began to make my mad dash home, I heard Logan call out: "See you later, Marci-koi!"

_Oh, someone just kill me now._

* * *

"Okay, everyone!" The teacher standing in front of the crowd shouted over the children, who had become engaged in their own conversations. The hushed as soon as they heard the teacher begin to speak. "Listen up! Today the fourth grade Star and Moon classes will be having a sketching contest. Use this as an opportunity to take a fresh look at your familiar school, it may lead to some new discoveries." Oh, like what? That for some reason there's a bunch of weird-looking white balloons littering the baseball field and they all have this sticky white gunk on them?

"This is going to be so much fun!" Miki said excitedly as she, Ran, and Su floated by Amu's side, holding little mini sketch pads in their hands.

"You've been looking forward to this for a very long time, Miki." Ran said.

"Of course!" Miki exclaimed.

"But..." Su said, turning to look at Amu. "Amu-chan doesn't look very excited-desu." Su's right, she looked like the exact opposite of excited. She looked very depressed, staring at the ground and with her knees pulled close to her chest.

"Not true." Amu said sadly. "I'm pumped."

"It's because she's bad at stuff like drawing." Ran said.

"Hinamori-san." The girl sitting behind Amu said as she tapped on her shoulder. Amu turned her head to look at her. "Here." She said, handing her a note. Amu unfolded it and read what it said.

Let's draw together.

\- Nadeshiko

Amu looked over to where the Moon class students were seated and saw Nadeshiko waving at her. Amu gave her a signal that meant okay just as a teacher walked over.

"Were you paying attention to what the teacher was saying, Himamori-san?" A familiar voice said. "The motif for your sketch should be 'your favorite place at school'."

"Nikaidou-sensei." Amu said irrationally.

* * *

"Honestly," Amu said to Nikaidou once the art teacher had stopped speaking and allowed the children to move aimlessly about the school grounds. "I can't believe you have the nerve to be a teacher again. Didn't you quit?"

"I was formally hired as a teacher this time." Nikaidou explained. What does he mean by... Oh, yeah. He was a temp/substitute before. I forgot that Amu's original teacher went on maternity leave. "I've had a teacher's license all along." Even if you're substituting at a private school, you have to have a teacher's license. This may seem strange to some (I've heard in America, you don't need a license to either be a substitute teacher or be a private school teacher, though, I'm not sure if that's true or not seeing as I heard it on an episode of _Law and Order: SVU _that originally aired in the early two-thousands.) but I think it has to do with preventing pedophiles from getting to children. I don't know. I hate the school system, so I don't associate with many teachers, so I have no one to confirm this with. So, don't take my word.

"You have no shame." Amu muttered, annoyed.

"Sensei!" Su exclaimed as she floated up to Nikaidou. "You've become a real teacher, then-desu?"

"Come back, Su!" Amu exclaimed, not trusting Nikaidou one bit. She was a little right, not to. He then snatched Su up, gently clutching her in his hands.

"Can't I just keep this one?" He asked with a pout.

"Not a chance!" Amu exclaimed. Nikaidou let Su go and then turned to walk off.

"Well then, bye!" He said. "Good luck with your assignment!"

"He was our enemy just the other day." Amu said. "What's with the change of character?"

"It should be fine." Nadeshiko, who was standing next to Amu the entire time, said. "He's no longer associated with Easter."

"Anyway," Miki said. "where do you wanna draw, Amu-chan?"

Amu closed her eyes tightly in thought.

"My favorite place, huh?" She said. "It's gotta be..."

"There, of course." Nadeshiko said. Oh, no. Please don't leave me in a state of suspense wondering what you mean by "there".

* * *

Obviously, they went to the Royal Garden. Any idiot with half a brain cell would be able to guess that they would go there. Honestly, Amu and Nadeshiko, you two are just way too predictable.

The Royal Garden looked particularly beautiful that morning. I think it was because due to the weather being so unseasonably warm (And all of the news stations saying it would only get warmer.) the school had started power washing the exterior again, which made it look all nice and shiny and magical. Also, once again due to the unseasonably warm weather, a lot of the flowers out front were beginning to bloom. I don't know what the hell is going on with the climate right now, all I know is that I hope a bunch of democrats are doing the "I told you so" dance in front of a bunch of republicans right now.

"The Royal Garden!" Ran exclaimed.

"This reminds me," Miki said. "wasn't Amu-chan a wreck the first time she came here."

"Is that true-desu?" Su asked. You think that the embarrassed blush that had appeared on Amu's face would be answer enough for her.

"Oh, right." Amu quickly flashed out of her embarrassment. "That was before Su was born."

And then something extremely strange that I can't explain happened. Everyone just froze up and stared off into space for about forty-eight seconds. All of them; Amu, Nadeshiko, the Guardian Characters... They just all froze up and stared off into some fixed place somewhere on the horizon for nearly a minute. No one said anything. No one did anything. It was just strange.

"She hasn't changed very much-desu." Su said. Dafaq? What are you talking about? Did they just do some sort of alien mind transfer thin or something? How the hell does Su just suddenly know something she didn't forty-eight seconds ago? What the hell is going on?

"Yep, yep." Ran and Miki agreed. Oh, so they're just gonna go on like nothing completely out of the ordinary happened. Well, if that's how you wanna play it, fine.

"Be quiet!" Amu exclaimed, causing her Guardian Characters to laugh.

* * *

Amu sat in front of the Royal Garden, glaring at her sketch pad with a frustrated look on her face.

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Miki asked as she put the finishing touches on her own sketch of the Royal Garden. She caught a glimpse of Amu's paper and let out a gasp of horror.

Amu's picture was... Well... It was... It's better than anything I could draw... And it's definitely better than the art style of that short-lived Cartoon Network show _Problem Solvers. _(Look it up. The art for that show is abysmal. The only show I can think of with worse character designs/art style/animation is _Secret Mountain Fort Awesome._) But... I don't think it's anything museum worthy.

"Th-the Demon Lord's Castle." Miki couldn't help from muttering to herself as she stared at the page. I... I really don't think it looks like a Demon Lord's Castle. It looks more like a lopsided triangle with lines running through it. "Want to Character Change with me?" Wow. Miki's actually offering to Character Change with you. You know you've screwed up badly when Miki is offering to Character Change with you.

"Nah," Amu said. "no thanks. Man, I really suck at drawing." Trust me, I'm worse. All I can draw are tornadoes, butterflies, and eyes. Everything else just looks like a bunch of random shapes and squiggly lines that vaguely resemble some sort of object. "Besides," Amu continued. "even though this is my favorite place and all, something's just not right."

"Amu-chan," Nadeshiko said. "why don't we check out a few other places for a change of scenery?"

"Let's go, Amu-chan!" Ran exclaimed.

"I would love to try drawing other places-desu!" Su said.

"Alright," Amu said cheerfully after thinking about it for a second. "let's do it."

* * *

As Amu walked down the path that led to the main school building, she spotted Tadase sitting on a patch of grass, conversing with two boys that were in his class.

"Tadase-kun." Amu said to herself when she spotted him. A small smile and blush appeared on her face. (Oh, dear god...)

"What is it?" Ran asked.

"Nothing." Amu said. "I was just thinking about how much has happened in the past few months."

Just then, Tadase decided to look over his shoulder and saw Amu standing there. He gave her a friendly smile and she waved and smiled back.

* * *

Amu climbed up the final set of stairs and opened the door. She found herself on the roof of the school. Well, one of the roofs seeing as the school is comprised of multiple buildings. She took a look around. For some reason, there was a lawn chair and a plethora of Justin Bieber Merchandise that had looked like it had sat there for nearly the entire winter. (Oh, crap. Sarah and I forgot to get rid of that stuff.) But, other than that, the view was just breathtaking. You could see everything from the school gates all the way to the overpass two miles away. (Okay, it doesn't seem that breathtaking to me, but to Amu it was pretty breathtaking.)

Amu store up at the big blue sky above her.

_It feels like ages ago when I first became Amulet Heart and jumped through this sky. _She thought.

Holy shit it's happening again. Once again, Amu froze up and stared blankly at some fixed point on the horizon. This time, however, it was longer. (Fifty-two seconds.) After what ever caused her to do that had passed, she went back to staring up at the sky.

"Hey," Ran suddenly said. "Amu-chan! Can we draw the view from here?"

"Uh-huh." Amu said.

"Yay!" Ran said, then joined Su and Miki over by the ledge.

"I'll teach you the trick to drawing wide spaces." Miki said.

"Thank you, Sensei!" Ran and Su said in unison.

Amu, meanwhile, walked over to the edge and looked out at the horizon.

_When I first moved to this town, I didn't have any friends. But... _

She froze up again for about twenty-three seconds, but I guess it must have passed quicker than it did the first two times.

_And starting that day, my life became very eventful._

Is there something I'm missing here. Seriously, I'm honest to god confused as to what's going on. She froze up again for about thirteen seconds and then began her thought process again.

_Now I have Ran, always so cheerful and full of energy. Miki, cool-headed with a great artistic sense. And Su, laid-back and girlish._

Amu then reached into her pocket and pulled out the Humpty Lock. She stared down at it as little rainbows appeared on the shiny crystals in the sunlight.

_And then I met the Guardians._

Once again, she froze up (twenty-four seconds this time) and then began her thought process again once whatever happened had passed. Am... Am I the only one who thinks something is wrong here? Don't... Don't you think she should go to the emergency room? This isn't a symptom of Ebola, is it? ...Or Swine Flu... ...Or SARS... Or any other disease that Americans have unnecessarily panicked about?

_Tadase-kun. The prince of my dreams. But when I confessed my feelings after a Character Change with Ran, I was totally shot down. To top it all off, Tadase-kun admitted that the person he likes is a post-Chara Nari me. But still, like Ran says, I'll have plenty of other chances. Uh, the fact that his dream is to conquer the world is pretty out there, though. _

_Nadeshiko is a much more refined girl than I am. She's elegant, and graceful, and good at cooking. And she even knows Japanese dance. Seriously, she's perfect. I'm a girl, and I still admire her. Uh, Nadeshiko after a Character Change is a different story, though._

_The oldest Guardian would be Kukai. I don't feel the need to act super polite just because he's older. He's good at all kinds of sports, and captain of the soccer team. He feels sort of like a reliable older brother with a great sense of humor, I guess._

_Yaya constantly overeats and overindulges. She's always got candy on the brain. It's not an issue since she works really hard at ballet, but she better not come crying to me when she puts on weight. Oh yeah, I think she made me buy her ice cream after that._

_It feels like we're always together. I'm so glad I joined the Guardians._

I... I don't understand what she was referring to in a few of those thoughts. Damn, is she feeling okay?

"We should get going." Amu said to her Guardian Characters. Wait, weren't you going to draw or something?

"Did you decide where you want to draw-desu?" Su asked. I thought she was gonna draw there.

"No," Amu said. "not yet." I thought you said you were going to draw there. "There's nothing wrong with taking our time." Amu began walking towards the door that led to the stairwell. Shit... This day is a mind fuck.

"That's true." Miki said.

"We've still got plenty of time!" Ran added.

* * *

"It's really quiet-desu." Su commented as Amu quietly tread through the school hallway. There were currently other classes taking place, so it was so silent, you could hear a pin drop.

"Yeah." Amu said. "Everyone's in class."

"This reminds me of our grand adventure with Ami-chan-desu." Su said.

Then they were silent again. This time, for exactly fifty-three seconds. Seriously, this is strange. Someone should call a scientist or something.

"We ended up not finding the Embryo." Ran said, ending their sudden freezing fit. Why do I feel like that statement should be followed up by either Cartman, Kyle, Stan, or Kenny saying "now, that's what **I **call a sticky situation"?

"Well, of course not." Amu said. "Like it's going to be that easy." Let me tell you, it's not going to be easy at all because the Embryo doesn't exist! How many times do I have to reiterate that you idiots are chasing after nothing, here?

"I'm finished, Sensei!" A voice exclaimed from a classroom down the hall. Amu, Ran, Miki and Su all immediately ran over to the open door of the class room where they heard the exclamation come from. They peered in and saw a class of third-graders working on their calligraphy. Sitting at the front of the class was Amu's number-one fan, Seiichiro Suzuki. The teacher was looking at his paper, which had a lot of Hiragana squished on to one tiny paper.

"Today's assignment was to write a proverb." The teacher said. "What on Earth is this?"

"These words have impacted me more than any others in my life!" Suzuki exclaimed. "They surpass any proverb! I intend to create an anthology of Hinamori-senpai's wonderful sayings." Obsessed much? "She was amazingly, incredibly wonderful that day!"

He then froze up for thirty-seven seconds, much like Amu did. Jesus Christ, is someone gassing the school?

"You were the epitome of cool, Hinamori-senpai!" He exclaimed again, after those thirty-seven seconds had passed. "What did you say? You want more?" No, no I never said that. Wait, what is going on? "Yes, yes. I understand completely. Well then, I'll carry on. Let's Hinamori!" Oh dear lord, someone shoot this kid with a tranquilizer dart!

Okay, someone really should check the ventilation system in this school. Everyone in that entire class, including the teacher and Suzuki, stayed frozen for an entirety of two minutes and seven seconds. Something has got to be wrong there. Oh, wait, Amu was outside during a few of her freezing attacks. It's much harder to gas people outside due to all the fresh air (Although it's not impossible. World War I ring a bell? Then again, I think the school would notice if someone was walking around in a gas mask spraying a mystery chemical, so that rules that out...), so it's probably not a chemical attack. Damn, then what the hell is going on?

After that freezing attack passed, Suzuki immediately began fanboying over Amu again.

"Cool and Spicy!" He said, almost sparkling. Then, a thought hit him and he quickly took out a new piece of paper and began quickly using his calligraphy brush to paint some Katakana on to the page. He spelled out the English words "cool and spicy" in Katakana and then held up the page. "This shall be the cover for the anthology of Hinamori-senpai's wonderful sayings."

"I see." Apparently the teacher must've been used to Suzuki acting like this by now, so he only sighed that in response.

Amu and her Guardian Characters, who had overheard this all, couldn't help but think that what they just heard was way too strange and slowly backed away from the door.

* * *

Amu had gone back to her classroom and sat at her desk. She stared out the window next to her, with a nice, calm smile on her face.

_Why is it that the sky's the same, _She thought. _and yet feels different from before I met everyone._

"Hey," Amu said to her Guardian Characters, who were over at the chalkboard sketching and writing random things. "will you guys show me what you were drawing earlier?"

"Sure." They all said in happy unison. They floated over and held up their sketch pads.

"What do you think?" Miki asked as she held up her sketch, which looked like an exact photo of the view from the roof.

"That's wonderful, Miki." Amu said. "Your drawing is beautiful."

Amu then looked over at Ran's drawing. She's actually not that bad of an artist, either. Though, her style was very different than Miki's. Instead of trying to stay true to the scenery, like Miki did, she colored the buildings all different colors, and the buildings had sort of a curve to them that they would acquire if one were to look at the scene through a fish-eye lens on a camera.

"How should I describe it?" Amu wondered aloud. "It's bold and idiosyncratic." She knows what idiosyncratic means?

"Yay!" Ran exclaimed.

"What's that?" Amu asked Su when she turned to her. Su had decided not to draw the scenery, like Amu's other two Guardian Characters. Instead, she had drawn two white blotches on a field of blue.

"Clouds as puffy as Choux à la Crème-desu." Su said.

"Everyone's pictures turned out so different." Amu said.

Just then, Amu heard someone make a noise behind her. Amu whipped her head around and saw not only Yoru floating there, but Utau's Guardian Character, Il, too.

"Yoru!" Amu exclaimed. "And..."

"It's Il!" Il nearly shouted, clearly haven taken some form of defense. "And don't you forget it!"

"Why are you here?" Ran asked.

"Are you on a date-desu?" Su asked.

"So jealous." Miki muttered to herself. (Oh, dear lord, not again...)

"Not a chance." Il said. (Thank god.) "I was just bored at Utau's photo shoot, so I'm keeping Yoru company on his walk."

"It's not like I asked you to come along-nya

"But your ears and tail were all droopy because Ikuto wasn't paying any attention to you."

"Nuh-uh," Yoru exclaimed, frantically waving his paws around. "they weren't-nya!"

"What're you freaking out for?" Il asked while laughing.

"I'm not-nya!" Yoru insisted.

"Too much free time." Amu commented.

"Don't compare yourselves to us!" Il and Yoru snapped at the same time.

"Besides," Il said as she and Yoru floated over to Amu's Guardian Characters. "what's so great about drawing."

"It's fun-desu." Su said.

"Yep!" Ran agreed.

"Then show me-nya!" Yoru said as he snatched Ran's sketchbook and flew off.

"Give it back!" Ran exclaimed.

"No way!" Yoru said.

"Jeez!" Ran said, annoyed.

_This is so typical whenever Yoru's around. He pops out of nowhere, just like an alley cat._

Just then, the image of Ikuto's face flashed across Amu's mind.

_Why did he just come to mind?_ Maybe because Yoru is his Guardian Character?_ I can never figure out what that guy's thinking._

She then froze up again for a minute and seven seconds, before continuing her thought process. (Jesus, so much freezing is happening today, I'm starting to think that Elsa should show up and sing "Let it Go".)

_Even though he's with Easter, there are times when I think he's a good guy. And... I wish I knew how he and Utau Hoshina are connected._

She then froze up again for forty-two more seconds, before she snapped out of it.

"Yikes," She heard Il say as she came to. "what a crappy drawing."

"You really suck-nya." Yoru said. Hey, I thought it was good. Though, then again, I have all the artistic sense of a dead slug, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about...

"That's not true!" Ran exclaimed in anger. "I'm at least better than Amu-chan!"

Amu then suddenly changed from good-naturedly laughing at the squabble that was happening in front of her, to a state of offended shock.

"I think you just said something unintentionally mean." Miki said.

"Th-The mood just got really tense-nya." Yoru said.

"L-Let's go." Il said.

Both Il and Yoru exchanged awkward laughter before giving the sketch pad back to Ran and flying back out the window.

* * *

Amu walked down the stairs, with a neutral expression on her face.

"Amu-chan, I'm sorry." Ran said, in apology for her earlier comment.

"It's fine." Amu said. "It's fine." She then shot Ran an evil glare. "I totally don't mind." Translation: Don't do it again or I'll flush you down the toilet. For real this time.

"Huh?" Amu heard someone say as she turned to walk down the next flight of stairs. "Himamori-san. What are you doing here?" Amu tuned and saw Nikaidou standing there with a mid-sized box in his hands. "You shouldn't skip class."

"I'm not skipping!" Amu insisted.

"Sensei," Su said. "what is that you're carrying?" She looked down into the box to inspect the contents. "Ah, a robot-desu!"

"The Craft Club's going to use it." Nikaidou said.

"Craft Club?" Amu questioned. "We have one of those?"

"I just started it." Nikaidou said.

"How very delightful-desu!" Su said.

"Would you like to join?" Nikaidou asked Su.

"May I-desu?" Su asked excitedly.

"Of course!" Nikaidou said.

Amu smiled and then froze up again, this time for thirty-four seconds.

"I'm sure your new egg will be one belonging to a wonderful teacher." Miki said to Nikaidou when Amu's freezing spell was over.

"Yeah." Amu agreed.

* * *

Amu walked outside and saw her classmates still sketching their chosen spots. Some had moved to draw something at a different angle, others were still in the same spot they were when they began. Amu was thinking about what she was going to draw when she suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Ran asked.

"Did you decide where you want to draw?" Miki asked.

"Yep!" Amu said, with a smile on her face.

* * *

"Oh, Amu-chan." Nadeshiko said when she saw Amu running up to the Royal Garden. "Did you finish your drawing?"

"I'm about to!" Amu said as she ran past Nadeshiko and through the doors of the Royal Garden.

Amu put her bag full of art supplies down on the table as she looked around the greenhouse.

_My favorite place. _She thought.

* * *

Many of the pictures Nikaidou looked through that night as he was grading papers looked about average for a group fourth grade students. Most kids drew the main building from different angles. Some had sketched less popular areas like the gazebo or the sports field, or the fountain that was erected in memory of all the kids who had died during that shooting... One drawing, stood out, though.

It was a rather sad attempt to draw what looked like three monkeys (one of them sparkled) eating around some sort of table. The student's name was scrawled in the corner of the drawing.

Amu Hinamori

Fourth Grade Star Class

"It's a pretty pathetic drawing," Nikaidou said as he stared down at the picture. "but I suppose it's not all bad."

* * *

_My favorite place is right here._

* * *

**Ehehe... I'm so glad to be done! Ugh, this chapter felt like it took forever for me. Mostly, it was because I didn't know what to do with the flashbacks (or whether or not I should just skip the flashbacks and just do the Marceline and Logan part) but in the end, I decided to handle it like how they handled the old cutaway gags in the _Family Guy _episode "Back to the Pilot". -_-**

**The times Marceline gives throughout the chapter are a rough estimate of how long those flashback scenes are in the actual episode. I got those numbers by using the stopwatch on my phone, so it's very likely that those numbers are inaccurate. ^-^;**

**Can't wait to get to the next episode, though. I'll probably use a certain quote from the last _Star Wars_movie through most of it. XD**

**Remember kids, it's perfectly normal for people to freeze up like statues for no reason. Don't call nine-one-one if you see it happen!**

* * *

**This was originally uploaded to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 11/18/14. **


	29. It's a Trap! It's a Trap!

**IT'S A TRAP! IT'S A TRAP!**

**"UR So Gay" by Katy Perry**

* * *

I learned to shoot at about the age of three. My cousin's dad [who was convinced that Helter Skelter (all-out racial war culminating in an apocalypse) was going to happen.] thought that it would be key to mine and my cousin's survival if we learned how to properly go off the grid and live off the land. He taught my cousin how to build snares and me how to shoot a bow. He also taught both of us how to identify various edible plants and what ones we should always stay away from, how to build a suitable shelter, how to start a fire with just sticks and rocks, and how to purify water without using iodine tablets. I remember I always used to love going out camping with him and my cousin during the summer nights. Mostly because there were numerous trees just ready for climbing. I'd just find a random tree, climb to the highest branch that could support my weight, and just sit there for hours and observed what went on in the forest around me. It was actually quite peaceful...

Eventually, though, the day came that I actually had to put those skills to good use. My father had just up and left, and my mother became despondent after his violin was found in some foreign country (I think it was either Germany or France... Not sure, though.). Food quickly began to dwindle. I remember once Ikuto and I got into a squabble over a jar of peanut butter. (That incident caused us to create the first draft of the Tsukiyomi Family Code of Conduct.) I eventually drew the line when I finally sunk low enough to go digging through the trash at school for the "healthy" crap that parents put in their kid's lunch that none of them wanted.

At first, I tried screaming at and slapping my mother to absolutely no success. When I figured out that she wasn't going to help me, I decided that the only way that I was going to get help was if I helped myself. I knew of a wooded area about an hour's walk from my house, so everyday when I went to school I waited until Utau and Ikuto parted ways with me to go to their respective classes and then bolted for a side door no one ever bothered to lock. Once at home, I'd change from my school uniform into an outfit suitable for running around the woods and head out.

My Hunting Schedule went like this. At seven AM I'd walk to school with Ikuto and Utau, which took about fifteen minutes. Around seven-thirty or seven-forty-five, we'd part ways. At eight, I'd arrive home, change into my clothes, and retrieve my bow and arrows and head out. I'd arrive at the spot at about nine AM and hunt for about an hour (some days it stretched to about an hour and a half). At ten, I'd arrive at the black market, and usually make my trades without issue (though, some people occasionally felt the need to haggle with me). At ten-thirty, I'd go to the store and pick up whatever we needed at the house, though it was mostly pre-prepared junk food because none of us knew how to operate a stove. At eleven, I'd go home, clean up, get back into my school uniform, and then go back to the school and hang out in a tree in the forget-me-not garden the school had planted for some kid who had died of cancer or something until school let out. Eventually, my cousin decided that he wanted to join me out there because he didn't think it was a good idea for me to be out there, hunting alone and because he thought it'd be nice to use his cut of the money we made to secretly help out his mom, who had recently divorced his dad and was working three jobs just to support him and his baby brother.

Initially, though, I was on my own. And let me tell you, that wasn't a good thing. I had been to the black market a few times before with my cousin's dad, but that didn't stop the place from being completely intimidating for me. Every single last person in there was a criminal who could and maybe even would kill me if given the opportunity. This came at a time where I actually valued my life, so that idea seriously scared the shit out of me.

The first time I tried selling to people there, I was able to sell two wild turkeys and a rabbit to the elderly woman who sold bowls of soup made with whatever ingredients she could scrounge up, but other than that I had no luck. I still had three one turkey, two wild dogs, and a rabbit to sell. I was about to give up and take the rest home when I came across her.

She looked different, not wearing the Kimono that she normally adorned and with her soft purple hair tied in a side-braid rather than ornately way she usually pinned up her hair, but despite that, she still retained that sophisticated air about her. She was Chika Fujisaki. I knew her because I had met her daughter a few times when she came over to Tadase's house. (Apparently, they were in the same class in Pre-School.) She didn't recognize me as I walked out of the storage-space-tuned-illegal-hub, but she did notice how young I was and her maternal instincts immediately kicked in and she ran over to me.

"Little girl!" She called out to me. "Little girl!"

_Oh crap! _I had thought. _I knew this would happen! I knew I'd get caught! Oh, Jesus Christ, why now? I haven't even gotten to do anything to help Ikuto and Utau yet! CPS'll take 'em! I don't want that! Please, dear god, help me!_

Chika quickly made it over to me and squatted down to get to my level.

"Little girl," She said. "Why are you here? Don't you know it's dangerous."

"'Course I know it's dangerous." I said, trying to sound tough so maybe she'd back off or something. "I wouldn't show up at a place like this if I didn't know the risks."

She did not take kindly to that attitude.

"Where are your parents?" She asked. "In fact, wait a minute, shouldn't you be in school?"

"My mom's at home." I said in response to the first question. I knew she had already figured out I was a child, so unlike all of the people in the black market who inquired upon my age, I could not lie my way out of this one.

"What about school?" She questioned.

I wanted to reply with "fuck school, I'm too cool to go back", but I had a feeling that I might just make the situation worse by saying that.

"Don't have to go." I lied.

"Really?" She said, not believing me. "Why not?"

"'Cause I'll starve if I don't." That one wasn't a lie.

"Starve?" She repeated, as if not comprehending the word.

_Damn, I said to much._

"You know what," I said, going to walk to the road behind us. "forget this. I'm going home."

"Wait!" Chika exclaimed, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. "Aren't you Aruto Tsukiyomi's daughter?"

I turned around, giving her a strange look.

"Yes..." I said slowly. I wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"He just walked out on your family recently," She said. "didn't he?"

_Fuck, I hate how fast gossip travels._

"Yes." I said, not really wanting to talk about that.

She bit her lip, obviously considering something. I was about to turn and walk away when she said:

"How much do you want for everything you have."

"What?" I said in disbelief.

"How much money are you willing to except for the dead animals you have?"

I just stood there, stunned. I... Did I really just hear that? Did she really just offer to take everything I have. I can't believe thi- Wait... Something isn't right here...

"What's the hitch?" I asked.

"Huh?" She responded.

"A few seconds ago," I said. "you were acting all worried and now you're actually asking me how much for all of my game? What's the catch? Do you want me to go back to school and never do this again? 'Cause let me tell you lady, that ain't happening."

"Trust me." She said. "There is no catch. I'm not like the sleazy crocks that you'd run across in there. I have a child to think about. I'm not gonna force you to do anything illegal or anything like that. Understand?"

"I guess..." I said hesitantly after a few moments of contemplation. I still wasn't so sure. "Then why do you care? Why are your offering?"

"Your father and I..." She said, trying to figure out how exactly to phrase it. "Kind of ... Shared a few mutual friends, and I can't in all good conscience just sit back and allow you to starve to death. Besides, I know if you're doing this, you must be to scared to call CPS. So, I'll keep my nose out of the situation and give you a reasonable sum of money in exchange for all of that game."

"You sure?" I asked hesitantly. I still felt strangely nervous for some reason.

"I'm sure." She said. "Besides, I've heard wild game is less fatty than the stuff you buy in the supermarket."

* * *

After that, the Fujisakis became regular clients of mine. Chika and I always settled on a price that was good for both of us and neither of us ever ended up gypping the other. It was a good arrangement we had.

I occasionally caught glimpses of the daughter. She was a pretty thing. She had long purple hair that was a darker shade than her mother's and shiny, copper eyes. Often times when I saw her, she'd be wearing a beautiful dance kimono and have a thin sheen of sweat forming on her brow. According to her mother, she was learning traditional Japanese dance and was putting all of her effort into her practices. For some reason, I couldn't help but feel that there was something a little off with her. It wasn't anything seriously off, like she could be capable of going to school one day dressed in a black trench coat and take revenge on all of the kids who bullied her throughout the years, but still, something didn't feel quite right. Like... I don't know... Like the person that she was showing to the world wasn't the person that she actually was. Does that make sense?

* * *

Normally, when I went to sell to the Fujisakis, I'd jump the large wall that surrounded the building and knock on the backdoor. Not because they didn't want me coming to the front or anything, just because that's the way I felt most comfortable doing it.

One day, I knocked on the door, and no one showed up. It was about two years after I initially took to the woods to provide for my family, so by this point I had built up a reputation and had a lot of customers waiting for me to deliver. So, when no one showed up the first time I knocked, I was a little pissed.

The second time I knocked I started becoming concerned, though. Although sometimes neither Chika nor her mother heard me the first time I knocked and I ended up running late waiting for them to come to the door, normally they'd show up the second time I knocked. I tried knocking a third time and still, nothing.

_Okay. _I had thought. _This is strange._

I looked in one of the windows and saw nothing out of the ordinary. The kitchen seemed to be in perfect order and so did the dining room. I was about to knock a fourth time when I noticed that the door was cracked open. Although I knew it was wrong and an invasion of their privacy to enter their house without permission, curiosity got the better of me. Besides, it wasn't like I was going to steal anything.

"Hello?" I said after opening the door and knocking on the frame. "Is anyone here?" I was met with dead silence. "I don't mean to intrude or anything, but... I kind of have other houses to get to and I don't wanna be running too, too late. Hello?" Still nothing.

I sighed, and was about to walk away when I heard someone taking a few steps down the hall. They didn't come out to the kitchen, they turned off somewhere and went to a different section of the house.

"Hello?" I tried saying again, but I guess they didn't hear me. I heard a door lightly open and shut and decided to figure out what in the hell was going on. I walked in the direction of where I heard the noise.

I eventually came across a door that door that sounded like it had some activity going on behind it (draws opening and closing, hangers being hung up, stuff like that). I knocked on the door and heard a yelp of surprise come from the other side. Maybe I shouldn't have done that...

"W-who's there?" I heard a horse voice ask on the other side.

"Uh," I said, feeling kind of awkward about the fact that I pretty much just broke into their house and scared the living shit out of them. "it's me, Marceline Tsukiyomi. I've been standing outside for quite awhile and I kind of have some game here..."

"My mom's not home." Oh, so it's the kid that I'm talking to. Wait, is it me, or does she sound kind of strange.

"Is your grandma home?" I asked.

"No," The girl said, sounding a little less horse and much more girly than she did a second ago. "they're in Kawaguchi for a dance competition for some of the older pupils. I had to stay home and practice."

"Oh." I said. "Well, did your mother leave some money for me."

"Uh, yeah." The girl said. "She did."

"Where is it?" I asked.

"It's on the..." I didn't hear the last part of that sentence.

"What?" I said.

"I said it's on the..."

"I-I didn't quite catch that last part," I said. "can you say it again?"

"I said..."

"Ugh," I said. "screw it! I'm opening the door!"

"NO!" I heard the girl say on the other side. "Please, don't!"

"Eh?" I said. "Why not?"

"Just don't open..."

_Fuck it._

"Okay." I said as I burst through the door. "I don't know what your problem is, but I can't understand you. Now will you please just- Oh my god."

* * *

"The quality of the dance has improved significantly." Nadeshiko's grandmother/nanny commented as she watched Nadeshiko dance.

"From a young age," Chika said. "that child has practiced harder than anyone else."

"Indeed," Her grandmother/nanny said. "without missing a single day."

"Which is why the time has finally come." Chika said. "The time to set off on a journey."

* * *

The Guardians were doing paperwork in the library instead of the Royal Garden for a change. It was a nice day. They had the windows open to allow the pleasant breeze to pass through.

While the Guardians worked, Kiseki had the other Guardian Characters training. He, Pepe, and Daichi were scaling the side of a bookshelf when Daichi fell off.

"Bah." He said.

"You need to train more." Kiseki commented.

"Sheesh," Pepe said. "you're so undependable-dechu."

"Man..." Daichi said. "One more time!" Then he raced back over to the bookshelf and began scaling it again.

Temari, who was just sitting back and watching because she didn't want to get her kimono dirty, giggled.

"Please try your best, everyone." She said.

Meanwhile, at the Guardian's table, Yaya looked like she was about to pass out from boredom. In fact, I think she did.

"Yaya-chan." Nadeshiko said, patting the girl next to her on the shoulder. Yaya quickly came to at the sound of her friend's voice. "If you keep nodding off, you're never going to finish."

"This paperwork is a pain." Yaya said. "Can't we just do it tomorrow?"

"We cannot." Nadeshiko said. "We must finish it today."

"Jeez," Yaya groaned. "Na-chin's a meanie!"

"Ha," Kukai said. "you got in trouble!"

"Be quiet!" Yaya exclaimed, even though she was in a library.

For a second, as she listened to her friends, Nadeshiko looked sad. She looked down for a moment until the breeze gently stroked her hair. Her gaze immediately went to the window and, without even thinking about it, she got up and looked out. On the stone path outside and just below the window, a certain pink-haired girl was yawning as she lazily swept the path leading up to the library. (It was either that or sit around bored while watching the Guardians do paperwork.)

"That won't do." Nadeshiko heard Su say to Amu. "You must do a proper cleaning job."

"But when the weather's this nice..." Amu trailed off. Then, she noticed something. "Huh? What happened to Ran and Miki?" Amu turned around and saw Ran and Miki lying on a large patch of grass, soaking up the early spring sun.

"What nice weather." Miki said in a relaxed voice.

"So warm and fuzzy." Ran sounded like she was about to fall asleep.

"Jeez." Amu said.

"Amu Hinamori!" Nadeshiko heard a girl who was fast approaching call out. She looked over and saw a girl from her class, Misaki Watarai, run over and give Amu a tackle-like hug that almost caused her to fall over. "Found ya!" Misaki exclaimed as she did so.

"Whoa, Misaki!" Amu said as she tried to regain her balance.

"Hinamori-san!" A few more girls exclaimed as they ran over to her.

"Oh, hi guys." Amu said as the girls approached her.

"Check this out." Misaki said as she showed Amu a magazine. "It's a matchmaking temple!"

"A matchmaking temple?" Amu repeated.

"The matchmaking temple..." One of the girls from Amu's class started.

"...Is an ally to all girls who want their love to come true!" The other finished.

"What are you looking at?" Yaya asked Nadeshiko as she ran up to the window. She looked down and saw Amu standing with the group of girls. "Oh, it's Amu-chi! Amu-chi!"

Amu heard Yaya call out to her, looked up, and waved while smiling.

"Hey there!" Yaya said as she waved back.

"The sunlight's become so soft." Tadase said as he walked up to the window as well.

"Yes." Nadeshiko said. "Spring is right around the corner."

"But, but..." Yaya said. "Doesn't that mean Kukai's about to graduate?"

"What's this, Yaya?" Kukai, who had suddenly appeared beside Tadase, said. "You're not going to let me graduate?"

"Once we lose Soma-kun," Tadase said. "our oldest member, we'll have to work harder."

"Hotori-kun," Nadeshiko said, with a bit of sad weakness in her voice. "about that..."

At the same time, Temari felt that it was about the right time to share the news with the other Guardian Characters. She turned from watching her bearer, to see the sight of Kiseki and Daichi arguing on the bookshelf.

"Hold on, everyone." Temari said, causing the two male Guardian Characters to pause their little elbowing match. "I have something I need to tell you."

* * *

"Is that true, Fujisaki-san?" Tadase asked in genuine disbelief. He never expected Nadeshiko to announce such news. Especially not since she befriended Amu.

"It was decided awhile ago." Nadeshiko said. "I just couldn't bring myself to tell you. It would've made you all gloomy if I did."

"Na-chin..." Yaya said, sounding like she was about to cry.

"Don't look so sad." Nadeshiko said with a reassuring smile. "It's not as if we'll never see each other again."

"Does Hinamori-san know about this?" Tadase asked. The smile was immediately erased from Nadeshiko's face.

* * *

"Amazing, right?" Misaki said as she and the other three girls leafed through the magazine. They had all went to sit on some nearby steps, rather than block the pathway and tire their legs by standing. "You just say a prayer, and your love's guaranteed to come true!" Isn't there a church in Mexico with a similar gimmick? Come pray at our church and we'll cure you of any disease and/or rid you of any misfortune. (That is, of course, if you don't get kidnapped and/or killed by one of our numerous cartels on your way down here and you don't mind crawling up the cobblestone path that leads to our church.) I'm pretty sure there is... I'll have to look that up later. Anyway, that sounds like an age-old gimmick/scam if I've ever heard one.

Alright, before anyone accuses me of bashing this church just because I'm agnostic, I looked it up online and it's called the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The history of it is pretty interesting and the architecture of the place is stunning. They even have this pretty stunning rose garden. But yeah, in truth, they probably kind of get more attention from the whole religious pilgrimage gimmick. So, yeah...

"Please!" Wakana started saying with her hands clasped together. Amu just looked around in confusion as the other two girls followed suit.

"Please match me up with Tadase-kun!" Misaki, Manami and Wakana all said in unison.

"Hold on, Misaki." Amu said. "Didn't you give up on Tadase-kun and switch to Kukai?"

"That love is over!" Misaki said. "I just recently came back to Tadase-kun!" Doesn't that make you fickle or something?

"Unbelievable." Amu said. "How can you change who you like so readily?" In response, Misaki gave Amu a mischievous grin.

"What about you, Amu Hinamori?" Misaki asked. "Who do you like right now? Why don't you pray to the matchmaking temple god?"

"I want to know who Hinamori-san likes, too!" Manami said.

"Huh?" Amu said, taken aback by the demand.

"Who is it?" Wakana asked.

"Th-the person I like?" Amu stuttered. Oh, don't put her on the spot like that. Now she's going to freak out. "Th-that would have to be..."

All of the sudden, Amu was suckered into her little dream world that made up Big-lipped Alligator Moment-like fantasies that only caused Amu distress. In this one, Amu was ringing the bell at a temple and about to pray to the matchmaking god.

"Please god..." She said. Then suddenly, Tadase appeared beside her.

"Hello, Hinamori-san." Tadase said. "Do you mind if I join you?" Sparkles appeared in Amu's eyes as she beheld the face of her crush, praying with her at the matchmaking temple. It was her dream come true... Until she felt someone grab her by the chin and turned her face so she was facing him. She then stared into his midnight blue eyes with a look of shock upon her face.

"Ikuto!" She exclaimed as she noticed how close her face was to his.

"If you're gonna pray," Ikuto said. "stick with me. Don't bother with that little kid. Got it, Amu?"

Amu didn't have time to respond before Kukai picked her up, bridal style.

"Hold it right there!" Kukai said. "I'll be taking Hinamori!"

"Kukai!" Amu said, clearly not expecting him to show up among her thoughts.

Meanwhile, in reality, Amu was spacing out so badly that she didn't even notice that a drop of drool was about to spill out of her mouth.

"Hello?" Misaki said, snapping Amu out of her thoughts. Amu looked at her and saw her giving that mischievous grin again. "Whose face popped into your mind?"

Amu just sprung up, crossed her arms, and put on her "cool and spicy" mask.

"N-nobody in particular." Amu said. "It's stupid to rely on gods." Amen to that, sister. "And I'm not interested in love or boys to begin with." She then began to walk off towards the main entrance to the school. "See ya."

"That's not surprising," Misaki said as she, Manami, and Wakana watched Amu walk off. "coming from Amu Hinamori."

"Cool and spicy!" All three girls said in unison.

* * *

"Jeez," Amu groaned as she sat in the gazebo behind the school. "what's wrong with me? Seriously, this is the pits! I'm supposed to be devoted to my prince! Why did all those other faces pop up? That means I'm totally unfaithful! Something's wrong! This is weird! It's definitely not normal!" Oh dear lord, will you relax? You're ten years old. You have another good seventy years to figure out who you're in love with, so don't stress about it now... And definitely don't cry about it!

"There, there, Amu-chan." Ran said, trying to comfort her bearer.

"Don't be so depressed about it-desu." Su said.

"Who cares if you like a bunch of people?" Miki said. "A woman is defined by the number of loves she has." I want to call her a slut, seeing as she'd developed crushes on all of the male Guardian Characters (not even joking about that) but I feel like that'd be hypocritical to what I just said to Amu. I don't think it's a good idea to be hypocritical in my writing. Then again, Henry David Thoreau was a bit of a hypocrite in his writings and he's seen as one of the greatest authors ever... So, yeah... Slut.

"Don't put me on the same level as you!" Amu exclaimed, causing Miki to sweat drop. Amu sighed, composing herself again. "The one I like is Tadase-kun, isn't it? But whenever I'm with Ikuto, my heart races. And Kukai can be pretty manly at times. Ah! What should I do?" Nothing. Once again, you're ten. Don't worry about it.

After freaking out some more for a few minutes, Amu finally came to some sort of decision.

"Okay." She said. "I should turn to Nadeshiko in times like this. I'll go ask her. She's the one who understands my feelings the best.

* * *

Tadase, Kukai, and Yaya all sat around the table in the Royal Garden with depressed expressions on their faces. They were so upset by Nadeshiko's news that it seemed like nothing could cheer them up. Not even the pure-white butterfly that floated by their heads. (I'd be really excited if I saw one of those. They're supposed to be really rare.) They all let out really sad-sounding sighs.

"Amu-tan and the others are going to be shocked when they hear about this-dechu." Pepe said.

"Still," Kiseki said. "why doesn't she tell Amu Hinamori about something so important?"

"Aren't they supposed to be best friends?" Daichi said.

"It's **because **they're best friends." Kukai explained.

"I understand how Na-chin feels." Yaya said. "I don't wanna see Amu-chi look sad either!"

"Nadeshiko?" Everyone intermediately recognized that voice as belonging to Amu's. They looked over and saw Amu running up the steps to the raised platform that their table sat upon. She stopped halfway up the steps when she saw that her friend wasn't there. "Huh?"

All of the sudden Tadase, Kukai, and Yaya had busied themselves; scribbling random things on papers and shoving random books in their faces. Yaya had even acquired a pair of glassed mysteriously out of nowhere.

"Where's Nadeshiko?" Amu asked as she slowly walked closer to her three friends who were acting quite suspicious."She's not here?"

"Fu-Fujisaki-san?" Tadase stuttered.

"Sh-she had something to do," Kukai said, hoping that he wasn't coming off as suspicious in any way. "so she went home."

"Yeah, yeah." Yaya said while trying to act like she was completely invested in her book at the same time.

"Went home?" Amu said. "Jeez, Nadeshiko! Why'd you have to run off at such a critical time. How dare you leave me alone, you heartless meanie!" That statement wasn't making her friends feel any better. They all almost jumped and this made Amu realize that something was up. "What's up?"

"N-nothing!" Kukai said as he jotted random gibberish down on the paper in front of him. "Nothing at all!"

"Why are you all avoiding my eyes?" Amu asked.

"W-we're not doing anything like that." Yaya insisted.

"Right?" Kukai said.

"Y-yeah!" Tadase agreed.

Wow. I could put on a better performance than any of those three, and I'm so terrible at acting I failed to convince an entire country that my intentions when I defied the government were not rebellious. That's... That's a different story that I'm not willing to talk about just yet. Just know that it happened and let's move on.

"You're hiding something." Amu said, causing her three friends to mentally panic that they had been discovered. "Something's definitely funny here!"

They all shook their heads to indicate that, no, nothing was amiss.

"Then why is that upside-down?" Amu said, pointing at the book that Yaya had been oh-so-intently reading. Yaya scrambled to flip it so it was right-side-up.

Amu gave a suspicious glare to Kukai and Tadase, who just gave nervous laughs in response.

"Forget it." She said as she turned to walk off. "Let's go." Then she left with her Guardian Characters trailing behind her.

* * *

Amu had gone home to change before she showed up at Nadeshiko's house. Instead of her usual school uniform, she had put on a button-up shirt that had black and white stripes on the body of it and solid black sleeves. She also wore a black skirt, black and red stripped stockings, and black and white sneakers with red laces. A red tie was around her neck and she used one of her red X-shaped clips to clip a small patch of hair into a side ponytail.

"I kind of came here on the spur of the moment." She said as she stared at the front gate to the Fujisaki manor.

"It's Nadeshiko's House!" Ran said. How is that a surprise to you?

"We haven't been here in awhile-desu." Su said.

"Still," Amu said, staring at the traditional Japanese mansion in which her best friend lived. "Every time I see this..."

"The pressure of history and tradition..." Miki said.

"It's a little intimidating." Amu said. "But I can't leave my feelings like this! I'm sure if I talk to Nadeshiko..."

"You're heart will be at peace!" Ran cheered.

"You'll be able to sort out your feelings." Miki said.

"You'll be able to sigh in relief-desu." Su added.

"Exactly." Amu said. She then slowly brought her finger to the doorbell and was about to press it when Nadeshiko's grandmother/nanny came running out of the gate, surprising Amu.

"Young Master!" She called out. "Young Master Nagihiko!"

"Nagihiko?" Amu said as she turned to look at Nadeshiko's grandmother/nanny.

"Where did he go?" Nadeshiko's grandmother/nanny wondered aloud. "The others have all assembled." She then turned around - probably to go back looking for him inside the house - and was surprised when she saw Amu standing there.

"H-hello." Amu said to the shocked old lady.

"H-Hinamori-sama..." She stuttered in surprise. "I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Um," Amu said. "who's this 'Young Master'?" That question caused the old woman to panic.

"W-well," She said. "that would be..."

"You rang?" A masculine voice that had the slightest bit of familiarity to it said. Amu looked up and saw a figure sitting on top of the wall that surrounded the house. He was wearing brown shoes, black pants, a white sweater, a brown coat, and looked like an exact carbon copy of Nadeshiko, only he kept his long dark purple hair down. "I'm right here."

Must resist...

_Nadeshiko? _Amu thought as she stared up at the boy. He then jumped down, landing in front of her, allowing her to get a better look at him.

_It's not. He looks just like Nadeshiko. But he's a boy?_

Must resist...

"Hello," The boy said. "Amu-chan. Did you come to see Nadeshiko?"

"Uh-huh." Amu said. "Um, how did you know my name?"

"Young Master!" The grandmother/nanny interrupted. "Everyone is waiting!"

"Oops." The boy said, before taking Amu's hand and beginning to run off. "We're running for it!"

"Young Master!" The old woman exclaimed as she watched the boy run off with Amu.

* * *

"H-hold on!" Amu finally cried out once they got a few dozen meters down the street. The boy carefully came to a stop (as to make sure they wouldn't go tumbling into each other) and turned to face Amu.

"Sorry," He said. "was I going too fast?"

"No." Amu said. "But what's going on? Who are you? You look just like Nadeshiko." Can't resist...

"I'm Nagihiko." The boy said. "Nadeshiko's twin brother."

"Twin?" Amu and her Guardian Characters questioned in unison. "Twins." They contemplated. "Twins... Twins?!" They exclaimed in shock.

"Yep," Nagihiko said. "twins. Normally, we live apart. But I've returned just for today. All of our relatives have gathered for a certain reason."

"Don't you need to go back to the house, then?" Amu asked.

"It's okay." He said. "Besides, I wanted to talk with you, Amu-chan. Nadeshiko is always talking about you. She says you're her best friend."

"Best friend..." Amu said. "That has a nice ring to it."

"Come on," Nagihiko said. "let's go. It'd be a waste to just stand around."

"Huh?" Amu said. "Go where?"

"The matchmaking temple."

* * *

_Nagihiko. _Amu thought as she and the aforementioned boy walked through a path in the park. _I had no idea Nadeshiko had an older twin brother. _Yeah, doesn't that strike you as suspicious. Especially considering you're supposed to be best friends? _But they really do look the same. _That should be even more suspicious to you. Fraternal twins aren't supposed to look the same, especially if they are of different genders.

"Over here." Nagihiko said as he walked up two steps, on to a different path. "It's a shortcut." He held out his hand to Amu.

"Ah, okay." She said as she took his hand and climbed up the slightly steep steps. Nagihiko didn't let go of her hand as they continued down the path.

"This is my secret way out." He said.

"Secret way out?" Amu repeated as she looked around at the trees that surrounded them. "Um, Nagihiko..."

"Hm?" Nagihiko said.

"You're still holding my hand." Amu pointed out.

"Oh," He said. "you're right. It's different today."

"Today?" Amu questioned as Nagihiko let go of her hand and took a few steps forward.

_Nagihiko. What a mysterious boy. He kind of makes me wonder..._

"Nagi's pretty good at dealing with Amu-chan." Ran observed.

"He's cool-desu." Su said.

"That's one heck of a playboy." Miki commented. Wait, do you even know what a playboy is? A playboy is a guy who fucks hot women who are at least twenty years younger than him and leads a life of debauchery. Trust me, Nagihiko is not a playboy. Logan, however...

* * *

Nagihiko and Amu continued on their way through the park, stopping to look at some of the sights along the way like a bird nesting in a tree or a family of ducks swimming under a bridge.

"I had no idea there was such a pretty park out here." Amu said. Yeah you did. This is just another side of the park that you usually go to. (I'm serious, that park is HUGE.)

All of a sudden, a pale tan colored dog appeared out of nowhere, blocked the path in front of them, and started barking at them.

"Wh-what?" Amu said. She held an arm up in front of herself defensively in case the dog was a little less than friendly. "Did I do something?"

"Benkei," Nagihiko said to the dog while stepping in front of Amu and holding out his arms. "it's me! It's me!"

After a second, the dog seemed to recognize Nagihiko, ceased his growling and ran up to Nagihiko, happily barking.

"There, there." Nagihiko said as he patted the dog. "That tickles!" He exclaimed as the dog licked his hand.

"Young Master." An elderly man's voice said. Amu looked over and saw an old man standing there with three children at his feet. One of the children was crying. "Young Master Nagihiko."

One glance up at a nearby tree told you the entire situation. A bunch of balloons had gotten caught in the tree and a little girl in the group of three was crying about it (Probably because she was the one that lost them.) while her two friends were trying to comfort her. Nagihiko immediately understood what needed to be done.

"Wait one minute." Nagihiko said.

"Huh?" Amu said as he ran off towards the tree. She watched as he climbed up the tree with ease, to the branch that the balloons were caught on, untangle the strings and jump down with the balloons like it was nothing. (Psh, I could do all of that in half the time.)

"Here." He said, handing the balloons back to the little girl.

"Thanks!" All three children said in unison.

"You're welcome." Nagihiko said with a kind smile.

"He's just like Nadeshiko;" Amu said. "a genius of calming everyone down! They really are twins."

"I haven't seen you in a long time," The old man said to Nagihiko. "Young Master. Are you on a date with this cute young lady today?"

"D-date." Amu stuttered. "No, I just met Nagihiko for the first time today. So, um..."

"That's right." Nagihiko said to the old man.

"Huh?" Amu said, confused.

"She's such a lively young lady." The old man said.

Amu just stood there, perturbed.

* * *

The old man ran a small little snack shop/concession stand nearby and he offered to give them a free snack. They followed him to his small storefront and he made them tea and Dango (little sweet dumplings on a stick).

"Please help yourselves." He said as he set a tray down on the little bench they were sitting on.

"Thank you." Nagihiko said. The old man then went back into his store, leaving Amu and Nagihiko alone.

"Are you familiar with this area, Nagihiko?" Amu asked.

"When I was little," Nagihiko said. "I used to sneak out of training and explore around here."

"Was Nadeshiko with you?" Amu asked.

"Uh-huh." Nagihiko said.

"The training must have been tough." Amu said.

"True." Nagihiko said. "But I never thought of it as something I dance, I completely assume that role. It's fun to be able to express the feelings of many different people. I want to put on a better performance. I've always felt that way."

"Both you and Nadeshiko are very responsible people." Amu said. "And then there's me..." She sighed.

"Is something on your mind?" Nagihiko asked.

"Yeah." Amu said. "I was going to talk to Nadeshiko about it."

Nagihiko then suddenly took Amu by surprise by taking her hand in his and getting a little too close to her. Amu didn't feel threatened by this sudden action, though. More... Embarrassed? I don't know. I'm iffy on facial expressions sometimes, but she was blushing, so that's what I'm going with.

"Can you talk to me about it instead?" Nagihiko asked. Amu stared into his eyes for a few seconds, before pulling away and seeming like she was about to freak out.

"Not a chance!" She exclaimed. "How fickle am I, seriously?"

* * *

After eating the food the old man left them, Amu and Nagihiko continued on their way to the matchmaking temple. As they walked Amu explained her situation.

"I see." Nagihiko said. "You're only supposed to like one person, yet you think about a number of different boys, and that bothers you."

"Uh-huh." Amu said, sounding almost ashamed.

_Why am I telling Nagihiko these things when we just met? _Amu thought. _Maybe it's easy to talk to him because he looks like Nadeshiko?_

"We're here." Nagihiko said with a smile as they came to a stop.

"Huh?" Amu said. She turned to look to her right and saw the entrance to the matchmaking temple standing right there before her. "Ah, this is..."

"The matchmaking temple." Nagihiko said. "Let's pay a visit."

Instead of moving forward, Amu just stood there sullenly.

"Amu-chan?" Nagihiko said.

"I think I'll pass." Amu said. "If I go in with my feelings jumbled, I'll make the matchmaking god angry."

Amu, let me tell you something. **It's a trap! **(Ha, couldn't resist.) No, really, it's a scam. This temple was probably running low on funds and just started saying "oh, if you come pray here, we'll promise you true love" or some other bullshit like that and desperate suckers just came flocking. It's an age-old trick. The Catholics did it ("Come pray at our church and you'll be saved from the rapture!"), the Heaven's Gate people did it ("Come join our cult and your soul will board a spaceship following the Hale-bop Comet!")... My point is, you're not going to be making any god angry, so don't worry about it.

"At what point does like become love?" Nagihiko wondered aloud.

"Huh?" Amu said, confused.

"You like your friends." Nagihiko said. "You like people you admire. There are different kinds of like, agreed? I wonder where you draw the boundary between like and true love." Amu stared at Nagihiko, wide-eyed, processing his words. "Amu-chan, what do you like about the prince?"

"Huh?" Amu said. "Wh-when I first transferred here, I saw him at a Guardians' assembly, and I thought he looked cool. And then..." She averted her gaze.

"I see." Nagihiko said. "So you didn't know the real prince when you started liking him."

"Huh?" Amu said, turning her gaze back to Nagihiko, who was smiling.

_The real prince? I didn't know anything about the real Tadase-kun, until I became a Guardian. I only saw his outer character._

"People tend to make judgments based on appearances." Nagihiko said. "But a person's real self may turn out to be completely different from his appearance."

Amu returned Nagihiko's smile.

* * *

Amu and Nagihiko rung the bell inside the shrine, bowed their heads and prayed.

_That's true. _Amu thought as she prayed. _There are still so many things I don't know. About everyone else. About my own feelings. I'm still a fledgling at love. No, I'm just an egg. For now, I want to learn as much as I can. About my friends. About myself. About what it means to like someone. As much as I can._

* * *

"Here." Nagihiko said as he handed Amu a small little orange pouch with a little note on it that was written in such fancy calligraphy that I could barely read what it said. "It's a matchmaking charm."

"Thanks." Amu said as she took the tiny pouch from Nagihiko.

"It's the same as mine." Nagihiko said as he held up a second little orange pouch.

"Same?" Amu questioned. "Did you pray to be matched with someone, too?"

"No one at the moment." Nagihiko said, pressing his index finger to his lower lip and looking up at the sky as he thought about it. "Since I'm still in training."

"What's with that?" Amu exclaimed. "You sounded like a big love expert a minute ago!"

"Girls are complicated." Nagihiko said, turning his back to Amu and taking a few steps towards the temple's entrance. "I still have much to learn." He then turned to look at Amu again. "But there **is **a girl I'm concerned about."

"Huh?" Amu said in... She says "huh" in confusion a lot, doesn't she?

"Due to certain circumstances," Nagihiko said, turning around so he was fully facing Amu. "I can't show her my true self right now. But until the day that I can reveal my real self... Until that day comes, I'll watch over her. Even if we end up far apart."

* * *

"Nagihiko, huh?" Amu said as she and her Guardian Characters followed the path home. "He's a pretty mysterious boy."

"We ended up not running into Nadeshiko," Miki said. "but you still seem pretty satisfied."

"Amu-chan's mind is stuck on Nagihiko now!" Ran said.

"Huh?" Amu said in shock. "Th-that's not true!"

"But you completely forgot about us, didn't you-desu?" Su pointed out. She had her there.

"That's our Amu-chan!" Ran cheered. "A grade-schooler with a lot of loves!"

"A devil of a woman-desu!" Su cheered.

"Though," Miki said. "you could just say she's easily swayed."

"Hey!" Amu exclaimed. "I let you speak your minds and you all go nuts!"

"She's mad!" Miki exclaimed. "She's mad!"

* * *

"I'm home." Nagihiko said as he walked through the front doors of the house.

"Young Master Nagihiko!" His grandmother/nanny exclaimed, rushing to the door. "Ah, what a relief. Hurry up and get ready!"

"Sorry, Bayaa." Nagihiko said. They began walking down the hall to Nagihiko's room together.

"Everyone's waiting for your final dance, Young Master," His grandmother/nanny said. "since you'll be leaving Japan tomorrow."

"Isn't that a fine thing?" A woman's voice said behind them. Nagihiko's grandmother/nanny turned around and saw her daughter standing there.

"Madam!" She said.

"Boys should be active that way." Chika said. They then heard the door to Nagihiko's room open and shut.

* * *

"Welcome back." Temari said as she floated next to Nagihiko as he walked into the room. Nagihiko began to take off his clothes and change into what he needed to wear for his performance.

* * *

"The men of the Fujisaki line must dress as females when they are children," Chika explained. "and live with a female name. All for the sake of learning female dance, according to the Fujisaki family way. That being said, he'll probably suffocate if he isn't allowed to go back to being a boy every once in a while. Besides, I'm sure he wanted to make some memories with that girl before he left on his long journey."

* * *

"Your hairpin is crooked, Nadeshiko." Temari said, straightening it. "There."

"Thank you." Nagihiko said in his feminine voice. He then looked over at a picture of himself as Nadeshiko with the Guardians and smiled fondly.

"Shall we go?" Temari asked.

"Yes." Nagihiko said.

* * *

"Uwa!" I said backing up into the wall, away from the door. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! You should've said you were changing! I didn't mean to disrespect your privacy like that! I'm so, so sorry!" Yep, desperately apologizing was all I could think to do when walking in on a boy changing. Yes, I know, I'm fucking retarded for opening the door when he told me not to, but the thing was that I was acting under the assumption that he was a girl. If he was a girl, then it's fine. We're both girls. We have all the same parts and I'm not a lesbian, so no harm, no foul.

At first, I think he was too shocked to do anything, but he quickly snapped out of it and pulled his boxers and a shirt on.

"Oh my- Why did you do that!" He snapped at me once he was semi-dressed.

"I..." I said while trying to regulate my breathing. "I couldn't hear you and I thought you were a girl, so it'd be fine!"

"I said 'don't come in'!" He exclaimed. "What kind of person walks into someone else's room when they say 'don't come in'!"

"A fucking retarded person." I said. "Also known as me. I'm really sorry."

Silence. I don't think either of us knew what to say. I don't know what was going through Nagihiko's mind, but I knew I was freaking out that this might somehow make me a pedophile. (Even though I'm only a year, one month, and twenty-four days older than him.)

"Um..." I said. "I kind of have other places to be... C-can you just tell me where your mom left the money so I can go."

"You can't tell anyone about this." He said suddenly. I guess he was more worried about his secret getting out.

"Don't worry." I said. "Not eager to."

"You have to promise me you won't tell anyone." I guess that response wasn't enough for him.

"Okay." I said, then thought of something to swear on. "I swear on my life that I won't tell anyone. Now will you just tell me where the money is." He sighed.

"It's on the kitchen counter." He said.

"Thanks." I said before rushing out of the kitchen and getting the fuck out of there. If I were a normal person, I'd say that was the strangest experience I'd had in my life.

* * *

"Is that true?" Amu asked sadly as three of the Guardians stood in front of her, looking equally as sad.

"Uh-huh." Yaya said.

"Fujisaki-san is going to study in Europe." Tadase said.

"She wants to expand her repertoire by studying the traditional dances of other countries." Kukai continued.

"Her plane's probably taken off already." Yaya said.

"Without even saying goodbye?" Amu questioned, on the verge of tears.

"Here, Hinamori-san." Tadase said, holding out a pink envelope for Amu. "It's from Fujisaki-san." She opened up the letter and read the careful handwriting inside.

Amu-chan, sorry this happened so suddenly. I plan to return after improving my dancing. When that happens, you'll be surprised by how I look when we meet again. So look forward to it. I don't want to say goodbye to you. So instead, I'll say... Thank you.

Amu stood there for a few seconds, staring at the letter and shaking. She processed what she read, and then ran out the doors to the Royal Garden. The other Guardians called out to her, but she didn't care. She just continued to run, thinking about all the times she had with Nadeshiko until she came to the top of a hill. She stopped for a second to catch her breath, but then turned her gaze to the sky.

"You have to!" Amu shouted, thinking that Nadeshiko would hear her despite the fact that she was nowhere nearby. "You have to come back!" Her Guardian Characters and the rest of the Guardians eventually joined her on that hill.

_You have to. _Amu thought. _Because you promised. Right, Nadeshiko?_

* * *

**It's a trap! It's a trap! **Sorry, really couldn't resist.

* * *

**Ah! I'm... I'm not feeling good right now. I'm not really gonna leave an author's note. If you have a question, leave it in the comments below if you're on the blogspot or PM me if you're on fanfiction. I'm gonna lay down now. Bye... -_-**

* * *

**This was originally posted to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 11/23/14.**


	30. Let's Get Retarded

**I'M EIGHTEEN MOTHERFUCKERS!**

**"Let's Get Retarded" by The Black Eyed Peas**

* * *

You know how when something bad is about to happen you have this nagging gut feeling that something bad is about to happen. Like, when that Marathon Bombing thing happened, I had a terrible feeling about it weeks prior.

"I mean," I had said at the time. "it's a huge freaking gathering of people! Obviously at some point someone's gonna get the bright idea to pull out a gun and start shooting!"

I was kind of right. I mean, obviously they didn't pull out a gun and start shooting, but still. They took advantage of a gathering of thousands of people to cause irreversible harm and damage. I had a gut feeling it was going to happen, and it did. Lucky for me, I was nowhere near Boston at the time and I didn't know anyone who was, but watching a livestream of news coverage on my laptop, I couldn't help but think:

_God damn it, I knew it! I knew it! Ugh, this is so horrible! Why'd I have to be right? Damn it!_

What's my point with this? Well, on the morning of March Twenty-fifth, Twenty-thirty-nine, I had awoken with similar gut feeling. Not the terrible dread that indicated that something horrible was going to happen to change the lives of thousands of people. Something more personal. Something that indicated that something terrible was going to happen to me specifically.

Once I had drifted into the world of consciousness, I wanted nothing more than to spend the entire day in bed. Whatever this "bad thing" I was dreading was, my childish logic was telling me it couldn't hurt me as long as I stayed under the warmth of the covers and surrounded by the safety the hundreds of my stuffed animals. (Seriously, I have a lot of stuffed animals. Possibly even way too many for an **eleven year old girl**.)

However, I knew I had to get out of bed. I had promised Sarah I'd help her move out of her dorm, so I had to get out of bed. I sighed, slipped out of the covers, and went downstairs to get myself some breakfast.

_Today won't be that bad..._

* * *

It was the day before Graduation at Seiyo Academy Elementary School and Grades Three through Six had their classes canceled to help prepare the school for the hundreds of parents and guests who would be arriving the next day to watch their children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and/or nephews move from one grade to the next. Students were all over the place. Some were pulling weeds out of the flowers that grew along the walkway up to the school, others were sweeping the pathways, and more were hanging decorations.

In the gym/auditorium, though, even more preparations were being done. Students were sweeping floors, setting up chairs, decorating, rewiring and changing the light bulbs in the stage lights (Shouldn't an adult be doing that?), and just making sure everything looked presentable.

In all of the mess, Tadase was standing in the middle of the gym/auditorium, looking around. He had expected to see Amu around somewhere, helping out, but apparently she was nowhere to be found.

"Excuse me, girls." Tadase said politely to two girls who were chit-chatting as they pushed a cart of chairs. "Have you seen Hinamori-san around?"

"Hinamori-senpai?" One of the girls questioned. "Did you see her?"

"Nope." The other girl said to her friend.

"I see." Tadase said. "Sorry to interrupt you."

"No." The girls said going into fangirl mode as Tadase had (probably unintentionally) hit them with a sparkle attack. "It was nothing at all."

Meanwhile, Yaya had a look of dissatisfaction on her face as she stared up at the stage. She was helping two boys position a banner that read Celebration! The 2039 Graduation Ceremony (Doesn't it annoy you when people write numbers instead of spelling them out?) correctly over the stage.

"More to the right!" She yelled at the two boys positioned on ladders. One pushed the banner forward, while the other pulled it back slightly. "Or make that the left!" She corrected upon seeing how it looked. The boy who had pushed before pulled and the boy who had pulled before pushed. Yaya looked at the banner in it's new position and decided that it still didn't look right. "Or right, I guess!" The two boys groaned.

"Give us proper instructions!" One of them shouted from atop their ladder.

"Th-That's easy for you to say!" Yaya shouted back at them.

"Are you okay, Yuiki-san?" Tadase asked as he walked over to his fellow Guardian.

"Definitely not!" Yaya snapped. "I'm working so hard when I'm the youngest one. Yet Amu-chi runs off while I'm not paying attention. And to top that off... Over there!" She pointed an accusatory finger over at Kukai, who was lounging in a chair, watching the others work. He looked up when he heard Yaya snap and saw that she was pointing at him.

"But I'm graduating." He said.

"That doesn't matter!" Yaya whined. "Help out! That's not fair!"

"Fine." Kukai said. "I get it. I get it." He said as he got up from his chair. "Bah. Helping prepare for your own graduation ceremony feels kind of..." Before Kukai could finish his sentence, the ground began shaking and he was surrounded by a wild stampede of fangirls. They gave out chants of "Soma-senpai!" and "Kukai-sama!" as they surrounded him.

"Soma-senpai!" Manami, who was one of the girls within the stampede, said. "Please give me a button off of your uniform to remember you by!" Dafaq?

"I asked for one first!" Wakana, who was also part of the crowd, exclaimed. Okay, one, you didn't ask first. Two, why would you - and this is directed at all of them - want the buttons off of someone else's shirt to remember them by? Buttons are worthless, no matter who's shirt they come from. I'm sure that in a week you'll completely forget that the button was his and throw it out. ...Unless there's some sort of weird button fetish I don't know about. In that case, have at it, Hauss, I guess.

"Who cares?" Manami exclaimed in rebuttal to Wakana's claim of "first dibs".

"Wait, wait!" Kukai tried to say over the multiple squealing female voices surrounding him. "Hold on a second!"

"Hold it." One girl, who was away from the crowd, said in a very snobbish voice. Off to the side, Sayaa Yamabuki and her friends watched the crowd as they squealed and moshed. "Could you girls cease your unsightly bickering? To be fair, why don't we hold an auction to determine the ownership of the buttons?" Because that sounds like an impractical waste of time. Especially given that they're supposed to be working on preparing the gym/auditorium for the graduation. It also sounds like you would be given an unfair advantage, Sayaa, seeing as your father has more money than Miley Cyrus makes in an hour of pole dancing. "Taking into account the tight purses of you common folk, how about starting the bidding at a mere 5,000 yen." That's fifty US. See? Like I said, unfair advantage.

Unbeknownst to Sayaa, as she went off on her little egotistical attempt to get Kukai's buttons in an unfair manner, Kukai just began handing out buttons to people. Each and every fangirl walked away content with a smile on her face, leaving Sayaa in shock as she store at Kukai, now standing alone.

"Huh?" She said in confusion.

"See." Tadase said as he walked up next to Kukai. "Just as I predicted."

"Man," Kukai said to Tadase. "you really saved me." Kukai then turned to Sayaa, seemingly knowing that she was confused as to what was going on and began to explain. "Tadase gave me a bunch of spare buttons so there wouldn't be a fight."

"What?" Sayaa said in surprise, but then quickly went into a fangirly mode. "U-Um... May I also have one?" She said as she slowly and faux shyly walked up to Kukai.

"Oh, sorry." He said. "I'm all out."

Sayaa paled in shock. Her friends quickly surrounded her.

"Be strong, Sayaa-sama." They all said in unison.

Just then, Kukai remembered that there was still one untouched button on his uniform and pulled it off. He then held it up to the girl, who seemed to be disintegrating to dust in front of him.

"Here." He said.

"Huh?" Sayaa said, snapping out of her extremely shocked state.

"This is the last one off my jacket." He said with his signature grin. The gesture caused Sayaa to burst into tears and pull him into a tight hug.

"Kukai-sama!" She cried.

"Whoa," He said in reaction to her sudden show of affection. "don't jump on me!"

"Congratulations, Sayaa-sama!" Her friends said as they threw confetti over the fangirl and the boy trapped in her embrace. Christ, it's just a button, not an engagement ring. Relax.

"All's well that ends well." Tadase commented as he looked on at the scene.

"Good job." A very angry-sounding voice said as it came up behind him. Tadase immediately recognized the voice and turned to look at it's owner in slight surprise and fear.

"Yuiki-san!" He exclaimed upon seeing an enraged Yaya. So enraged, in fact, that she could be on fire.

"Well, fine!" She exclaimed in frustration and stubbornness upon seeing that Tadase and Kukai were still continuing to slack off. "I'm gonna have fun, too!"

"What are you doing, Yaya?" I... I don't even want to know...

* * *

"The graduation ceremony is tomorrow-desu." Su said sadly as she, Amu, and Amu's other two Guardian Characters stared up at the cherry blossoms that were blooming nearby.

"Nadeshiko just left," Miki said. "and now Kukai's going, too."

"Jack." Ran said. "Queen. King. Ace. Joker. The best group of five ever."

"But it's over." Amu said sullenly. "Everything, no matter how fun, has to end eventually. I guess that's how life is."

"A-Amu-chan." Ran said as she, Miki, and Su floated up to Amu.

"Farewells are the only constant in life." Amu said, her voice slowly becoming distant. It was almost as if she was vanishing into thin air. Wait... "So long, the days of my youth." Holy shit, she really is vanishing into thin air.

"A-Amu-chan is disappearing!" Ran exclaimed as she waved her arms frantically, unsure of what to do in this situation.

"What do we do?" Miki said in a panic. "What do we do?"

"Calm down, everyone-desu!" Su said, even though she was panicking herself.

"Come on." A voice from behind Amu said as a hand tapped her on the back of the head, somehow causing her to keep from disappearing and made her return to a state of solidarity.

"Ah!" Amu said as she felt the hand tap her. She shot up from the bench she was sitting on and turned to see who had snuck up behind her. "K-Kukai!"

"Found someone skipping work." He said, grinning.

"N-no," Amu stuttered. "I wasn't skipping."

"Oh well." Kukai said. "Wanna skip together?"

"Huh?" Amu said in confusion.

Meanwhile, Daichi floated over to Amu's Guardian Characters.

"Wasn't she transparent a moment ago?" He asked.

"M-maybe it was your imagination?" Miki said, trying to cover up the fact that one of the most out-of-place things in the entire fucking universe just happened.

* * *

Daichi ran down the field with the soccer ball. Despite their best attempts, Miki and Su were unable to get the ball away from him.

"Man," He said looking down at the two Guardian Characters who had fallen on the ground from their attempts to slide and dive for the ball. "you're out of shape."

Daichi must have spoken too soon, 'cause not even half a second later, Ran took the ball from him. She ran to the other side of the division line in the middle of the field, then stopped and put her foot on the ball.

"I did it!" She exclaimed while making the V-sign. She then kicked the ball into the air and then began sort of bouncing it on her head.

"Now you've done it!" Daichi exclaimed. Ran giggled.

Kukai, who had been looking on at the game the Guardian Characters had been playing, laughed. He then looked over and saw that Amu was sitting on the sidelines, staring up at the sky miserably.

"Hey!" Kukai said, catching Amu's attention. "Don't you think it's a little early to relax, just because Nikaidou's had a change of heart?"

"Huh?" Amu said in confusion.

Kukai, who had had a foot on his own soccer ball, began kicking it in the air with the part of his leg just above his kneecap. (There's a name for that area, I know there is.)

"Easter could send a second or third member," Kukai said. "someone even stronger." He started getting fancier with his kicking, using his feet and the sides of his legs now, too.

"Yeah." Amu said.

"Which is why," Kukai said as he put his foot on the ball which he let drop to the ground. "to make sure you can deal with any enemy..." As he trailed off, the little star that signaled a Character Change appeared in his hair. "Kukai-style..." He kicked the ball into the air with one foot. "Golden Victory Shoot!" He shouted as he hit the ball with the opposite foot, causing it to go flying into the net with such a force that I'm surprised that the ball didn't burn through the net.

"Incredible." Amu said in awe.

"Hinamori!" Kukai said, drawing the girl's attention back to him. "You're going to master this technique now! It'll be Amulet Heart's new super move!"

"Why do you get to decide that?" Amu asked in protest.

"It'll be the final stage of your special training." Kukai said.

A look of surprise seemed to cross Amu's face for half a second, but then it quickly turned into a smile.

"I got it." She said.

"That's more like it!" Kukai exclaimed with a grin.

* * *

Amu and Kukai began running around the track that surrounded the soccer field. Kukai led while Amu followed. As Amu ran, she couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental.

_This will be the last time I train with Kukai. _She thought. _He was the one who taught me about the Joker's special mission. To be honest, the training was hard. But it's funny... When I realize this is the last time, I somehow think of it as fun._

All of a sudden, Amu felt a rope tighten around her waste and her entire body being pulled at a break-neck speed.

"Wait," Amu exclaimed as Kukai pulled her around the track. "I take that back!"

"Okay!" Kukai exclaimed happily as he pulled Amu along. "Last spurt!"

Amu screamed as he picked up speed, causing the surroundings around her to blur.

"Amu-chan." Ran said as she watched her bearer be pulled around the track by a rope.

"Okay!" Daichi said as he floated up to Amu's Guardian Characters. "Let's join in."

"No thank you-desu." Su said, speaking for all of them as they did not want to endure their bearer's embarrassment pain. Daichi just floated there confused as to why they wouldn't take him up on his offer.

* * *

Amu stood in the center of the field. She was Chara Naried into Amulet Heart and she looked at the ball and the net beyond it with a look of determination.

"Okay!" Kukai said. "Go, Hinamori!"

That's all the signal she needed to begin running towards the ball.

"Kukai-style..." She said once she reached the ball and kicked it up into the air. "Golden Victory Shoot!" With that, she hit the ball with her other foot with all of her might.

...That might have been too much, though. Once she hit it, it zagged away from the net and into the sky, leaving Amu and Kukai stunned and questioning where in the hell that stupid ball could have gone.

"She's got the power." Daichi commented.

"But her control..." Miki trailed off.

* * *

Since it was such a lovely early spring day, the Assistant Chairman (Vice Principal) of Seiyo Academy Elementary School decided to take his extensive collection of Bonsai Trees (The tiny little miniature trees you sometimes see at Home Depot) outside. Yeah, I don't get it either.

"Bonsai are definitely a core of the Japanese people." He said as he set the last pot down on the table he had brought outside. He smiled down at his collection proudly for half a second, before a soccer ball seemed to descend from the heavens and bounce off the table, sending the five tiny trees flying up in the air. The old man scrambled to catch them all, catching two in his hands and balancing two more on his arm and knee. The last didn't break though. It landed directly on the old man's head.

"**HEY!**" He shouted in anger. "**WHO DID THAT?**"

* * *

Amu and Kukai heard the Assistant Chairman's shouts from all the way by the soccer field.

"The Assistant Chairman..." Kukai said with a mixture of emotions, the most prominent one being shock.

Amu, meanwhile, took a few steps backward before jumping up in the air.

"I-I'm sorry!" Amu cried as she flew away.

"Ah." Kukai said, shocked that Amu would just abandon him like that. "Wait, up! That's dirty!" He shouted as he chased after the flying cheerleader.

* * *

Amu landed in a patch of grass that laid somewhere between the Elementary School and the High School.

"That was close." She said as she took a minute to calm down.

"Hey!" Kukai called out as he jogged off the adjacent path to the patch of grass Amu was standing on. He immediately collapsed on to his back with a big grin on his face once he reached it. "I can't tell who's training who." He said as he caught his breath.

Amu began giggling at that remark and before she knew it, she was full-on laughing. Her laughter must be contagious, because Kukai began laughing as well.

* * *

Amu and Kukai had returned to the Royal Garden and pulled their chairs over to the fountain so they could watch the water flow out. Amu told him everything that had been concerning her. Particularly how everything was changing around her and she didn't like it.

"Everything," Kukai said, repeating what Amu had said a few minutes before. "no matter how fun, has to end eventually, huh?"

"Yeah." Amu said a little sadly.

"It has to end?" Kukai questioned. "I get the feeling that nothing's really ended yet, though."

"But once you graduate," Amu said. "you won't be a Guardian anymore, right?"

"Well," Kukai said. "yeah, I guess."

"Aren't you sad?" Amu asked.

"Sure." He said. "But... Forget it. I'm not very good at thinking too hard." Kukai then got up from his chair and put his hand on Amu's head, slightly messing up her hair. "Anyway, tomorrow's the Spring Graduation Ceremony. If you don't see me off with a smile, I'll be too worried to graduate."

* * *

I was singing to myself as I worked on filling up boxes.

"What song is that?" Sarah asked as she taped a box full of her clothes shut.

"'So Far' by Eminem." I said as I threw a pile of neatly folded clothes into one box and began to get started folding the next pile.

"Is that off the new album?" She asked. "The one that just came out. _Shady XV _or whatever?"

"Nah." I said. "The one that came out last year. The second Mathers LP."

"Damn." Sarah said. "I'm behind."

"Well," I said. "It could be worse."

"How?" Sarah said.

"You could have never heard of Eminem at all." I said. "Then we could never be friends."

"Oh, that's a lie." Sarah said as she put the first box aside and began to tape up the box I had just filled. "You'd still be my friend even if I hated Eminem."

"Eh," I said. "Probably true. I'd probably settle for you eventually."

"What do you mean you'd 'settle for me'." She questioned in mock shock.

"I mean I suck at making friends and if you hated Eminem," I said. "I'd have to overlook that fact just for some companionship."

"You don't suck at making friends." Sarah said, obviously ignoring the second part of what I just said. "You have over a thousand friends on Facebook."

"Except for you, my brother and my sister," I said. "I've never met any of them in real life. They hardly count as friends."

"What about that blond guy who always follows you around?" Sarah asked.

"Logan?" I questioned. "What about him?"

"Isn't he your friend?" Sarah asked. "Or is he something more?" She wiggled her eyebrows at that second question.

"Stop it." I said as I playfully whacked her with the shirt that was in my hand. "I don't even like that dick head. He just works at the same place I do and follows me everywhere I go. He's so annoying."

"Whatever you say..." She trailed off. We then began to work in silence.

My phone, however, decided to break that silence.

"Oh, god damn it." I said.

"Isn't that your phone?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah." I said. "Let it ring. It's probably the devil we were speaking of."

Sarah just shrugged as she placed another box on the dolly next to her.

"Okay." Sarah said. "I'm gonna take this outside."

"Hey," I said. "when's the guy gonna be here with the truck?"

"He was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago." Sarah said, annoyed. "That dumb ass. If he's not here in the next five minutes, he's not getting laid tonight."

_Oh. _I thought. _So it's her boyfriend that's coming._

It's not that I minded. Actually, to be honest, ever since Sarah mentioned having a boyfriend I've been curious as to who exactly this guy is. I mean, everything Sarah's said about him leads me to believe he isn't really her type. I mean, he was doing missionary work in Africa. That doesn't sound like someone who a Satanist-turned-Atheist who doesn't even give a second glance to the starving on the street (Don't worry, I've called her out on that.) Also, she said that they're not supposed to be together. What is that? Is it because of his religion? I... I don't get it.

"Well," Sarah said, tilting the dolly back. "I'm going outside. Scream if you're raped."

"Will do." I said as I watched her walk out the door with the dolly trailing behind her. Once I was in the room alone. I sighed and went back to folding the-

My phone started ringing again.

_Oh god damn it. _I thought as I walked over to the dresser where I had left my phone and hit the "ignore call" button. _What in the hell is that guy's problem?_

I sighed again. I put the phone back on the dresser and went back to folding clothes. I filled the box I had in front of me with clothes, then put it over where Sarah was working. I began to hum to myself as I worked again.

"Hey, Sarah." The sound of an unknown male voice behind me sent me whipping around, reaching for an imaginary arrow out of the invisible quiver on my back. My eyes widened when I remembered that I had left my bow and arrows by the door and was currently left unarmed save for the emergency knife I had strapped to the inside of my boot.

I tried to fight off the oncoming anxiety attack as I stared into the face of the puzzled boy at the door. He was rather tall and had blond hair and blue eyes. My guess would be that he was at least twenty years old. He had his hands in the pockets of his dress pants as he looked into the room.

"Uh, sorry." He said, slightly puzzled. "I'm looking for a girl named Sarah. Have you seen her?"

"Uh, yeah." I said as I let out a strangled breath. "She just went outside with some boxes."

"Which way did she go?" He asked.

"Tha-" I was cut off when I saw Sarah appear in the door behind him. "Oh, there she is."

"Hey." Sarah said as she walked in the door. When she caught sight of the boy, she pouted. "You're late."

"You try driving a stick left-handed." He said.

"Meh." She said before he leaned down and kissed her.

I just stared at them awkwardly. I'd leave the room to give them some privacy, but they're kind of blocking the door.

"Oh." Sarah said as she pulled back from the kiss. "Marceline, this is my boyfriend Carl. Carl, this is Marceline."

"Uh, hi." I said, extending my hand for him to shake it. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here." He said as he took my hand and held it in a death grip.

_What the hell? _I thought. _Too tight._ I pretty much completely let go of his hand to signal that his grip was too tight, but he still kept that death-like grip on mine. _What fuck is his problem? _When he finally released my hand it quickly recoiled to my chest. _Something's... Something's strange here. Oh... At least it can't get any worse than this._

My phone started ringing again.

"Oh god damn it!" I exclaimed.

"Is that guy still calling you?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah." I said. "Hey, can I take this? I wanna rip him a new one."

"Go right ahead." Sarah said. "Carl and I'll finish the rest of the packing.

"Thanks." I said to Sarah before rushing past her and Carl, down the hallway, and out the door.

Once outside, I hit the little "accept call" button on my phone.

"What the fuck do you want, Logan?" I half-growled, half-spat out.

"Excuse me?" That wasn't Logan's voice. It was the voice of my slave driver, A.K.A. my stepfather, Kazuomi Hoshina.

_Shit._

"Oh my god." I said in pure horror. "I am so sorry. I thought it wa-"

"Never mind that." He said in a very offended, and probably pissed tone. "Just get down to Headquarters immediately. Your services are need right away."

"Yes." I said. "Right away, sir."

He didn't say anything before hanging up. I quickly stuck my phone in my pocket and ran back into the building.

"Hey," I said as I reached Sarah's door, breathing rather raggedly from both the running and the anxiety attack I could no longer stave off. "I'msorrybutworkjustcalledandIhavetogo! I'mreallyreallysorry! I'dhelpyouanyothertimebutI'llgetintorealtroubleifIdon'tshowuptowork! Bye!"

Neither Carl nor Sarah had any time to respond before I bounded out of the building at top speed.

* * *

The late evening light that spread across the city of Tokyo reflected off of the windows of the buildings that made up the sprawling metropolis, making them look like giant glass shards sticking out of the ground. Nikaidou walked out of one of these glass shards, with multiple boxes in his hands. He was carrying them out to his car. He had been clearing the last of his stuff out of his office at Easter's main headquarters and was glad that he had now gotten everything out and was now completely and officially done with that chapter of his life.

As he approached the stairs, he saw something he wasn't expecting to see. Yukari Sanjo was standing in front of his car with her arms crossed and an unreadable expression on her face.

* * *

"Honestly." Nikaidou said to Yukari after he had gotten the boxes into his car. "After working so hard for the company, they tell me to collect my belongings myself." Just be glad they didn't take you out to a field and force me to shoot you in the back of the head, execution-style.

"That's the life of a loser." Yukari said, still with her arms crossed and that unreadable expression on her face.

"Man," Nikaidou said, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "you're harsh. But you know... I've completely lost interest in winning or losing."

Yukari just "hmed" in a sort of stubborn response.

"Working overtime again?" He asked her. "If you push yourself too hard, you'll age faster." Yukari seemed to tense up at that bit of teasing.

"That's none of your business, Nikaidou-sensei." She said in aggravated response. Nikaidou just laughed.

"Well," He said before turning back and getting in his car. "take care."

Yukari silently watched as his car pulled away from the curb and down the street. She sighed before going back inside.

* * *

Above the noise of the song playing on the television, a knock could be heard on the door to Director Hoshina's door.

"Come in." He said, not taking his eyes away from the music video on the screen. It was the one for Utau's song "Meikyuu Butterfly".

"Excuse me." Yukari said as she entered the room.

"We may have lost Nikaidou," The Director said, addressing Yukari but not taking his eyes away from the screen. "but Sanjo-kun... I expect great things from you."

"You can count on me." Yukari assured, joining the Director by the screen. "I will definitely find the Embryo for Gozen."

"Take care to remain control as you use her." The Director said, referring to the blonde singing on the screen. He was probably worried about this because of mine and Ikuto's track records. We are apples from the same tree, after all.

"Control isn't an issue." Yukari once again assured. "Utau is a caged bird. A mere puppet. She won't defy my orders."

* * *

"Ikuto!" Yoru exclaimed as he jumped into his bearer's field of vision. "Let's play! I'm bored! Nya, nya, nya!" For the most part, Ikuto ignored him. He was tired and I wasn't home. He wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity and get some well-deserved rest.

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Ikuto-san," Our mother said. "are you in your room?"

Ikuto didn't give a response. She sounded sober enough, but Ikuto didn't really want to talk to her right now. He just got up from where he was lying on his bed and climbed up, out of his bedroom window and onto the roof of the house. From his position on the roof, Ikuto heard his door open and our mother step into the empty room.

"Ikuto-san." She said in an indecipherable tone.

* * *

Ikuto had pretty much taken to aimlessly wandering the streets when he didn't want to be home, but didn't really have any place else he could go. He'd just wander around town for hours on end until he was certain it was safe to go back. Most of the time when he left, it was because our mother and I were fighting. I don't blame him. I get it.

Ikuto was coming up on an intersection. I think he was somewhere by the mall and the train station. People walked by him, talking on their cell phones, walking with friends, or just going from Point A to Point B. No one took notice of him and he didn't take notice of anyone else.

"Please stop." Until he heard that. Ikuto looked over and saw two shady-looking guys hitting on two girls who looked like they could either be in high school or college. One guy had his arm around one of the girls, who was obviously uncomfortable with it. The other guy had grabbed the other girl by the wrist, causing her to look extremely terrified.

"What's wrong, girly?" The guy asked the girl he had his arm around.

"L-let me go." She said trying to get out of his grasp. He had a tight hold on her, though.

"It can't hurt to hang out with us a little." The other guy said while pulling on the other girl's wrist. Oh, trust me, it can hurt a lot. Like vaginal trauma and years of irreparable mental scars sort of hurt.

"Hey there, fellows!" A middle-aged businessman said, rushing over to the guys who were harassing the girls. He had full intentions of stopping the guys from brutally raping and possibly murdering those two girls.

"What?" The two guys said with the most intimidating looks on their faces. The man's intentions immediately went flying on the window.

"Ah," He said frightfully as he backed off. "my mistake."

As the businessman rushed off, one of the guys caught sight of Ikuto staring at the scene.

"The hell you lookin' at?" The other guy said to Ikuto in a manner that was meant to be intimidating. Given the fact that he lives with me, though, it didn't phase him.

"Wanna fight, kid?" The first guy asked in a similarly intimidating manner.

Ikuto just smirked in response.

Oh, no, no, no! Please don't tell me he's gonna...

* * *

"Jeez, Amu-chan." Ran said to Amu as they were stopped at an intersection.

"Put a smile on that face-desu." Su said, hoping that her bearer would do exactly that just 'cause she said so.

"Not possible." Amu said sadly. "I thought some window shopping might help cheer me up, but..."

As she said that, two girls who looked like that they had just ran a few blocks came running up to the intersection, halting only for the red light.

"That was scary." One of the girls said.

"Is that boy going to be okay?" The other girl wondered aloud. "It's all thanks to him that we were able to get away."

"I'm sure there's no need to worry." The first girl assured. "He looked pretty strong, and nimble as a cat." That caught Amu's attention.

_Cat? _She thought.

"I think I caught a glimpse of a knife on those guys." The other girl said in a hushed, fear filled tone.

Oh god, remind me smack that idiot on the side of the head the next time I see him.

"You're kidding." One of the girls said dreadfully.

Amu just stood there with a look of sheer terror on her face as the people around her passed by and crossed the street.

_It couldn't be..._

* * *

As soon as she snapped out of it, Amu began sprinting down the street, looking in every alley way for the person she believed was just seriously injured - maybe even **killed** \- in a fight with a couple of knife wielding guys who still could be there and are possibly depraved enough to kill a ten-year-old. I'd... I'd say she's extremely stupid for doing this, but to be honest I'd do the same thing, so...

Eventually, she came upon an alleyway where a figure with messy blue hair was sitting with his back against the wall, a small creature licking his arm, and looking like he was in pain.

"Ikuto." The tiny creature cried, confirming the figure's identity to Amu. "You okay?"

"Ikuto?" Amu was relieved to find him, but shocked at his current state. She'd never seen him like this before. He looked vulnerable; weak. She glanced at the ground and saw a small amount of splattered on the ground.

_Blood? _She thought with dread.

"Oh," Amu turned her attention back to Ikuto, who had picked up his head and was looking directly at her. "it's you." Amu quickly moved to where he was sitting in the alley.

"A-are you hurt?" She asked the person sitting on the ground below her with scrapes on his face and a deep wound on his arm that a doctor should probably check out.

"Don't be a pest." Ikuto said. "Get lost."

Amu ignored him, dropped to her knees, and began searching her bag for something.

"Hey." Ikuto said with the slightest bit of annoyance in his voice. Amu then pulled out a handkerchief and began patting some of the scrapes on his face clean.

"You're lame." She said. "You're like a real alley cat, to fight in a place like this."

After he got over the initial sting of having the dirt and excess blood cleaned out of his wounds, Ikuto looked at Amu out of the corner of his eye. The look of determination and concern for him made him feel... Made him want to...

"Ouch!" He exclaimed suddenly. Amu immediately pulled the handkerchief away from his face.

"S-sorry!" She said, afraid that she actually hurt him. "Are you okay?"

Ikuto just smirked and pulled her so close that their noses were touching.

"Just kidding." He said.

Amu stared at him, wide-eyed and blushing for half a second before standing up and hitting him (not that hard) multiple times on the head.

"Jeez, you dummy!" She said so loudly as she hit him it was near screaming levels.

Ikuto only responded with "Ouch! Hey!" before putting his head down in her lap. Okay, that got her to stop hitting him. Amu froze with a blush across her face.

"Wh-whats going on here?" Amu questioned with her fists frozen in midair.

"Head in lap!" Her three Guardian Characters cheered.

Amu lowered her hands from where they were midair, but didn't know where to put them.

_His head's in my lap, sure. But my knees hurt, and his hair tickles. _Amu settled on running her fingers through his hair. Creepy, much? _It reminds me of fur. He's really like a big cat. He'd be pretty cute if he was always like this._

As Amu ran her fingers through Ikuto's hair, one of her fingers bushed against his ear. Ikuto's eyes quickly opened.

"Don't touch me in an erotic spot." He said so suddenly it caused Amu's hand to go flying back.

"Huh?" Amu said. "Erotic?" She knows what that means?

"My ears are sensitive." Ikuto pointed to the ear Amu touched as he explained. "Just like yours." Well, that's more than I ever wanted to know about my brother... Or Amu...

That statement brought a certain memory to mind for Amu. Shocked and upset that he would even bring that up, Amu picked up Ikuto's head and dropped it on the solid concrete ground.

"Ow!" He exclaimed as his head hit the ground.

"Ikuto!" Yoru let out a strangled cry of fear for his bearer.

"Amu-chan." Ran said, sounding not at all surprised that Amu would do this, although she did feel that dropping his head on the concrete was necessary.

"What are you doing?" Ikuto asked as he sat up and rubbed his head. "That hurt."

"I shouldn't have been worried!" Amu said. Although she had her back to him, Ikuto could tell that she was blushing. "You must be fine if you can still sexually harass me!" Do you even know what sexual harassment is? Sexual harassment is when someone's trying to bully you into having sex. Ikuto wasn't trying to bully you into having sex with him. ...Or at least I hope he wasn't. I'd have to kick his ass into next Tuesday if he was.

"This is concrete, you know." He said as he continued to rub the spot on his head that hit the ground. "You really aren't cute."

Amu still didn't turn to look at him as he got up off the ground.

"Okay." Ikuto said. "Let's go."

"Huh?" Amu turned around to see that Ikuto was standing with his back facing her and his head turned towards her, looking about ready to take off.

"Follow me." Ikuto said. "Your house is this way, right?"

"He's gonna walk you home." Yoru elaborated.

* * *

"Whoa." Amu said as she trailed behind Ikuto, looking around at the neighborhood they were currently walking through. "I've never gone down this street."

"It's a shortcut." Ikuto said. Amu just "hmed" in response.

"This way next." Ikuto said as they turned on to an alleyway between two sets of houses.

"Okay." Amu said.

"Go up here." Ikuto said as they came to a dead-end, pointing at the wall blocking their path.

"Up?" Amu exclaimed.

* * *

One complex series of cat trails later, Amu found herself trying to stay steady as she walked across the barrier walls that separated one backyard from another.

"Alright," Amu said as she slowly stepped forward. "this is definitely, an alley cat's route!" She then began to spazz out, causing her to wabble around on the thin wall currently underneath her.

"I said it was a shortcut." Ikuto said, as he turned to look at the girl who was spazzing out behind him. Since he's pretty sure-footed, he was having no trouble walking across the wall.

"Fight!" Ran encouraged Amu. "You can do it, Amu-chan!"

"You're overreacting." Miki said.

"Calm yourself down." Su said. "Your state of mind is critical in times like this. So clear your mind of unnecessary thoughts, and take deep breaths-desu."

Su began to demonstrate by closing her eyes and taking deep, calming breaths. However, as she did so, a whole family of caterpillars (They're out already?) surrounded her. When she opened her eyes, she saw them wiggling around her and screamed.

"C-caterpillars!" She cried as she flew into Amu's face. "Get 'em away from me! Amu-chan, I'm scared-desu!"

Amu continued to try to steady herself, but found it extremely difficult with a terrified Guardian Character clinging to her face.

"You people sure are noisy." Ikuto commented as he looked on at the frantic scene.

* * *

After walking across the wall for quite awhile, Ikuto jumped off the wall and landed gracefully on his feet.

"We're here." He said.

"Where?" Amu questioned as she slowly climbed down from the wall using one of those metal grates that people sometimes put up to let vine-like plants grow. As she turned to look at him, she lost her grip on the grate and fell backwards, landing not-so-gracefully on her butt. "Ouch." She said as she rubbed it.

As Amu attended to her now sore ass (I wonder how she's gonna explain that one to her parents.) a large amount of lights came on behind her. There were so many lights, it was like it had suddenly turned from night to day around her. Amu got up and stood next to Ikuto with a huge smile on her face.

"Incredible!" Amu said as she looked out at the amusement park. Yes, you heard me right, amusement park. Ikuto took her to an abandoned amusement park. It was once called "Dai Dasso" (Great Escape in English), it's located in Moriya which is a town just west of Toride, and was closed down about a year or two prior. Mostly because the "SUPER JET COASTER" (It's really spelled capitalized like that.) literally had one of it's cars launched off the tracks and sent it flying into the middle of the park, killing all twenty-six passengers and two bystanders who couldn't get out of the way in time. Also, there were a few other issues. I guess the park hadn't had it's vending license updated since the nineteen-nineties and there was some issue with marijuana or sex trafficking or something like that. ...It was a mess so the cops just decided to shut it down.

Other than the "SUPER JET COASTER" (obviously) every ride in the amusement park was completely functional. Everything from the merry-go-round to the tea cups to that weird creepy animatronic clown that made me piss myself all the time as a child. (Seriously, I still see that thing in my nightmares! Ugh!) Amu and her Guardian Characters store out at the sight with a sense of child-like wonder.

"When you flip the breaker," Ikuto began to explain. "the power comes on for a bit." Actually, the power could go on for more than just a bit. It's just most of the time the local residents complain and the police come and cut it off. Ikuto's really lucky he's been able to bail fast enough so the police don't catch him. Trespassing at a demolition site is a crime punishable by up to six months in jail. If you get caught trespassing, you're gonna have a bad time.

"So there was an amusement park around here." Amu said.

"It's going to be torn down, though." Ikuto said.

Before she could say anything in response, Amu's Guardian Characters floated up to her with stars in their eyes.

"Amu-chan." Ran said. "I wanna ride!"

"Wanna play!" Miki exclaimed.

"Wanna have fun-desu!" Su exclaimed.

"No!" Amu said, crossing her arms and trying to act all "cool" again. "Only babies get excited about amusement parks! I graduated from this stuff when I was three!"

"Aw!" All three of Amu's Guardian Characters exclaimed in united frustration.

"It's not like anybody's watching." Ikuto said.

That was all Amu needed to hear. In less than two seconds, Amu went from being Miss Cool-and-Spicy to a three-year-old baby who had stars in her eyes and was excited about running around an amusement park.

"Wanna go?" Amu said cheerily.

"Let's go!" Amu's Guardian Characters exclaimed in unison.

"What to ride?" Amu said as she and her Guardian Characters ran into the park. "What to ride?"

"I wanna ride a horse!" Miki exclaimed.

"A roller coaster-desu!" Su exclaimed. Not gonna have much luck with that one. The only roller coaster in the park is permanently shut down.

"I can't keep up with them." Yoru said as he and Ikuto watched them run off.

* * *

After going on the go-karts, playing in the arcade, and through a fun house, Amu decided to go on the merry-go-round for the third time. She had a perfectly content look on her face as she spun around.

"It's her third time on the merry-go-round." Miki said. She, Ran, Su, Yoru and Ikuto were sitting on a nearby bench, watching the ride spin around and around. You know, if it was raining, this would sort of be like that scene from _Catcher in the Rye. _Why I think that, I don't know.

"Amu-chan's tough-desu." Su said.

"It must be nice to be a simple kid." Yoru said. "I bet she doesn't have a care in the world."

"That's not true!" Ran protested. "Amu-chan has plenty of worries of her own?" Like what? Whether or not Tadase likes her? Try living off of a single bag of chips for a week in a house with no electricity and then come talk to me about worries.

"Hey, people!" Amu said as she got off the ride and walked over to the bench. "It's outrageous for young people to be chatting on the bench!" She then tried to drag the four Guardian Characters onto another ride with her. As she did so, something just occurred to her. "Oh yeah..." She said, turning to look back at Ikuto. "You haven't been on a single ride."

"It's fine." Ikuto said. "Watching you is already more than I can take."

"Ride something!" Amu demanded as she moved to stand directly in front of him.

"Huh?" Ikuto said.

"You have to!" Amu demanded again.

"No." He said.

"Rock, paper, scissors, then!" Amu said swinging a fist up and down. "If you lose, you have to ride. Okay? Rock comes first! Rock, Paper, Scissors!" Amu threw out rock as Ikuto lazily threw out paper. "B-best two out of three!"

* * *

Amu couldn't stop laughing. Just the sight of Ikuto, a one-hundred eighty centimeters tall (five foot eleven for Americans) sixteen-year-old boy being stuffed in a tea cup that was probably only made to fit an eleven-year-old at the most was hilarious.

"So lame!" She exclaimed through the laughter. "This so isn't you! That huge body in this little cup!"

"You're laughing too hard." Ikuto said, not looking to happy about being in that tea cup.

"It's just hilarious." Amu said, wiping a tear from her eye. "I really let lose. I could never let my mom see me like this."

"Even though she's family?" Ikuto questioned.

"Yeah," Amu said. "I use an outer character at home, too."

"Outer character?" Ikuto once again questioned.

"Or," Amu said. "I guess you could say big sister character. I have a little sister, so I have to be responsible. Whenever we go to amusement parks, we go to the attractions she likes. It's not like I hate my outside character... But you know... The truth is there were a bunch of rides I wanted to try."

All of a sudden, Amu remembered who she was talking to.

_Why am I spilling everything? _She thought.

"W-well enough about me." She said, trying to change the subject.

"You're strong." Ikuto said, catching Amu by surprise. "If I could create a character like that, I might have it easier. We used to all come to this amusement park together. But it'll be gone soon. It'll end. The time for worrying about which ride to choose is coming to an end."

_The stuff Ikuto has on his mind, and the problems he's facing, are too hard for me to understand. Still... _

"You know..." Amu said. "Today was my first time here. So, regardless of how many days are left for this amusement park, today would be the beginning for me. So... You should make today a new beginning, too."

Ikuto just stared at her in awe as she gave him a beautiful, hopeful smile. He only stopped when the ride suddenly stopped moving, the ride went dark, and police sirens could faintly be heard in the distance.

"Let's get going, Amu." He said.

"Okay." Amu said.

* * *

"I'msosorryI'mlate!" I rushed out of my mouth as I ran into Director Hoshina's office. "Ihadtogohomeandchangeandsomethinghappenedwiththetrainstocausethemtorunlateand... Eh?"

He wasn't there. All the lights in his office were on, but he wasn't there.

_Did Watanabe say he was out when I ran past? _I thought. _No, I don't think so. Then again, I didn't exactly stop and ask. Wait, was Watanabe even there?_

While I tried to internally figure out what was going on, I heard the door shut and lock behind me.

_Uh-oh, this isn't good._

"I'm glad you could join me, Marci-koi" Oh fuck.

"Logan!" I exclaimed as I whipped around to face him. "What the fuck is going on here?"

"I had the Director call you since I knew you wouldn't pick up if I called myself." Logan explained as he walked towards me. "My, you look ravishing today."

"Oh dear god." I said. "If you just called me here to harass me again, I swear I'm gonna..."

"That's not why I called you here." Logan said, getting too close to me for comfort. I slowly started to back away.

"Then why did you call me here?" I questioned.

"So you could fulfill your contractual obligations." Logan said as if it was obvious.

"Contractual obligations?" I questioned. "What contractua-"

Logan cut me off by grabbing me around the waist and forcibly kissing me. It wasn't like last time where I completely froze up. This time, I immediately responded by hitting him on the chest and kicking his knee. He eventually let me go and I flew across the room. I backed up until my back hit the wall and store at him with a look of utter disgust.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!" I screamed.

"Oh," Logan said. "you didn't read the contract?"

"I NEVER DID!" I screamed. "YOU PRESSURED ME INTO SIGNING IT!"

"Oh." Logan said. "Well, that contract you signed was a non-disclosure agreement and a blood pact."

"Huh?" I said in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Logan said, with an evil smirk. "that you are legally obligated to have sex with me and not tell anyone about it until the day you die."

"WHAT!" I screamed in shock. "N-No way that's legal! That can't be legal!"

"It's perfectly legal." Logan said. "I had an actual real lawyer draw up the contract."

"Fuck you." I said, pulling my phone out of the case I had on my belt. "I'm calling the cops."

"There's a clause in there that says if you alert authorities in any way, shape, or form, the Easter Corporation has every right to see that as a breach of contract and order to have your family executed immediately."

My heart sunk. My had released my phone and it fell to the ground. I know it was probably a bluff, but fear took over my brain. I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let that happen. I...

I...

I...

I...

I don't wanna write about what happened next.

* * *

Tsukasa sat in the planetarium alone, looking up at the stars. Or, at least he was alone until Tadase walked in and joined him.

"You're still at the planetarium this late, Caretaker-san?" Tadase said. "I mean, Founding King."

Tsukasa smiled and Tadase climbed up the stairs and took a seat next to him.

"So do you have business here today?" Tadase asked.

"Yes," Tsukasa said. "I noticed something when I was reading the next alignment of the stars. The lock and key are drawing closer together, and their brilliance is guiding the story to a new page." Anata wa, hi fukakaina nihongo de onegai hanasu koto wa dekimasu ka? "With a new Jack and Queen." Is that what he meant? Eh... I don't get it when people speak so cryptically with metaphors and stuff. It took me awhile to figure out what "make the beast with two backs" meant in _The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. _(P.S. It's a metaphor for sex!)

"A new Jack and Queen?" Tadase questioned. I guess he's having as much trouble figuring that out as I am.

* * *

Kukai stood in the Royal Garden with a diploma in hand and a grin on his face. It was after the graduation ceremony and it was the last Guardians' Meeting that Kukai would attend as the Jack's Chair Guardian.

"Soma-kun." Tadase said, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice.

"Kukai!" Yaya cried as she lunged for his arm, wrapping her own two arms around it and burying her teary face in his shoulder. "You can't graduate! Flunk a year!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Kukai said to the crying girl.

"You can't go!" Yaya exclaimed, now taking to (softly) hitting him on the arm. "You can't! You can't! You can't!"

"You were our oldest member." Tadase said. "I'll be lonely without you." He then pulled out a head shot of Kukai from seemingly nowhere. "May I talk to this picture when I'm troubled or uneasy?" What are you, a mother who lost her kid in a drunk driving accident?

"Just call me on the phone like normal." Kukai said, sweatdropping.

"Jeez!" Yaya exclaimed as she took the diploma from Kukai's hands and began opening and shutting the case in frustration. "Stupid thing! Stupid thing!"

"Hey," Kukai exclaimed. "What are you doing? Give me back my diploma!"

_Everything, no matter how fun, has to end eventually. _Amu thought as she looked upon the scene. _That's what I thought. But..._

"Okay." Kukai said once he got his diploma back from Yaya. "I guess it's time to say good-bye." He looked around and saw the sad looks on everyone's faces. "What's with all the gloomy faces?" He then cleared his throat and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. "I spent all of last night settling my thoughts. Got it? I'm about to say something awesome, so keep your ears open." Kukai unfolded the paper and began reading from it. "Fujisaki and I are leaving. But that doesn't mean it's over for the Guardians. Today will be..."

"A new beginning." Amu finished before Kukai could say it. Everyone turned to look at her. "It's not the end."

"Yep!" Ran agreed. "Nothing's over yet!"

"Not for Nadeshiko or Kukai!" Miki said.

"Or Amu-chan or anyone else-desu!" Su said.

"A beginning..." Amu said. "We just have to make today a new beginning!"

Kukai smiled and put his arms around Tadase and Yaya.

"Hinamori!" He said. "You really are amusing. You pass!"

Amu smiled and joined them, forming a group hug.

* * *

**END OF BOOK ONE**

* * *

****Yep, today is my eighteenth birthday. Happy birthday to me! :)****

****I'm gonna do an Afterword, so there isn't going to be an author's note this time.****

****Remember kids, all fun things are going to come to an end eventually. Accept it. ****

* * *

****This was originally posted to the Hi no Nami Blogspot on 12/16/14. ****


	31. Afterword I

**I wanna quote "Guts Over Fear" but I don't think FanFiction'll let me.**

* * *

**Preview:**

_I wish I had some tiles to count. _I think as I stare at my feet, which have somehow been able to remain firmly planted on the carpeted floor. _That'd take my mind off of what happened to me._

Oh, who was I trying to kid? Nothing could take my mind off of what happened. I was traumatized, victimized, and violated. I doubt even a therapist would be able to figure out a way to distract me from that.

_Calm down, Marci. All you have to do is keep moving._

_Yeah, all I have to do is keep walking._

_We're walking, we're walking._

As I reach the end of the hall, I press the button for the elevator. It's then that all of the oxygen decides to leave my body.

_Where am I going? I can't tell anyone. If I did, then they'd call the cops. I'm alone. _I almost fall to my knees at that thought. Thank god the wall was there, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to catch myself. _I'm alone. No one's gonna help me. I'm completely and utterly alone. _

The elevator doors open and I'm able to calm myself long enough to take two steps forward and press the button for the lobby. I crumble once the doors shut, though.

_We're walking, we're walking._

* * *

**Afterword: **

**Anyone else surprised that I actually finished this? I know I am. When I started this last year, I swear to god I thought I would only get a few chapters in before I decided that this was complete crap and ended up scrapping it. Looks like I proved myself wrong.**

**However, I'm not going to ignore the fact that the story has issues. I have already planned a re-write for chapter one and I plan to get a beta reader so I don't make the same mistakes going forward. **

**Speaking of going forward, the next installment of this story will be called _Hi no Nami: Black Diamond_. I'm going to begin work on it as soon as I get back from Christmas Vacation, so look out for it.**

**Thanks for reading this story. I hope you enjoyed.**

**\- MewWinx96**

* * *

**Special Thanks To:**

**Darkling's Daughter**

**GirlWhoQuacks**

**Lapis Kagamine**

**SleepingSouls**

**Moka-girl**


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